LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A Like ok Service. 



A LIFE OF SERVICE, 



OR, 



Woman's Work in the Church. 



BY SARA MORRILL. 



"Small service is true service while it lasts: 
Of friends however humble scorn not one: 

The daisy, by the shadow which it casts, 

Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun . " 



MILWAUKEE, WIS.! 

THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN CO. 

1894 







Copyright by 
THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN CO. : 

1893. 



^ Library 
P F Congress 



Press of Houtkamp & Cankon, 
milwaukee, wis. 



Prefatory Note. 



These letters to a friend who asked some directions about 
Church work, appeared some years ago in a religious paper, 
and are reprinted by request. S. M. 



Dedicated 

TO 

MRS. TELFAIR HODGSON, 

OF 

Skwanee, Tenn., 

who gives to us a daily illustration 

of \ life of consecrated 

SERVICE. 

S. M. 



Sewavee, Tenn.<\ 
July, 1893. j 



CONTENTS. 



Letter i. 
Letter ii. 
Letter iii. 
Letter iv. 
Letter v. 
Letter vi. 
Letter vii. 
Letter viii. 
Letter ix. 
Letter x. 
Letter xi. 
Letter xii. 
Letter xiii. 
Letter xiv. 
Letter xv. 
Letter xvi. 
Letter xvii. 
Letter xviii. 
Letter xix. 



Motives, 

System, 

Prayer. 

Selection, 

The Sunday School, 

The Sunday School, 

Lent. 

Sorrow, 

The Mothers' Mission, 

The Sewing School. 

Visiting the Poor, 

Almsgiving, 

Culture, 

Sensitiveness, 

Controversy, 

Right Judgment, 

The Bible Class, 

Manners. 

Little Things, 



PAGE 

9 

17 

21 

37 
48 
60 

74 

88 
102 
1 12 

117 
124 

'131 

146 

J 53 

160 
168 
177 



cS 



CONTENTS. 



Letter xx. 
Letter xxi. 
Letter xxii. 
Letter xxiii. 
Letter xxiv. 
Letter xxv. 
I ,etter xxvi. 
Letter xxvii. 
Letter xxviii. 
Letter xxix. 
Letter xxx. 
Lettei xxxi. 
Letter xxxii. 



Obedience, 

The Care of the Sick, 

Health, 

Travelling, 

Care, 

Dress, 

Delicacy, 

Conversation, 

Gossip, 

Mistakes, 

The Study of the Bible, 

Contentment, 

Gratitude, 



PAGE 

185 

193 
203 

211 
221 

229 

23* 

247 

258 
268 
278 
287 
297 



A LIFE OF SERVICE, 



Woman's Woek in the Chuech. 



LETTER I 

MOTIVES. 



"In a service which Thy will appoints 

There are no bonds for me; 
For my inmost heart is taught the Truth 

That makes Thy children free; 

And a life of self-renouncing love 

Is a life of liberty." 

A. L. Waring. 

Y Deae L : I have not been unmind- 
ful of my promise to give you some thoughts 
and directions about Church work, but I have 
been thus tardy in its fulfilment because there 
has been so much that is good and true written 
upon the subject, that I can only repeat the 
substance of what wiser people have said before. 



10 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

There is nothing new under the sun. "'The 
thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; 
and that which is done is that which shall be 
done" to the end of time. I am particularly 
reminded of these words of Solomon just now, 
because on referring to some pages I had ready 
for you, I found that St. Augustine, St. Francis 
de Sales and Fenelon have given substantially 
the same directions. So we will go back further 
even than these old worthies, to the Sacred 
Book from which, studied under the enlightening 
influence of the Holy Spirit, they had their 
wonderful wisdom. 

First, then, as to the motive that should 
impel you to a more thorough consecration of 
yourself to the service of God: " Whatsoever 
ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the 
Lord Jesus;" because "Christ also hath loved 
us, and hath given Himself for us." Keep this 
continually in mind, and let the thought of the 
hymn we learned in childhood be the abiding 
spirit of your life: 

"In ail his daily duties 

He diligent must be, 
And say, whate'er I do, O Lord, 
I do it unto Thee." 



MOTIVES. 11 

Acting thus from the highest motives, you 
will have a calmness and elevation of thought 
and mind that will lift you above many of the 
little annoyances that will constantly beset you. 
Let no pressure, then, of occupation crowd 
from your mind the thought that God's glory 
is your ruling motive. Make the words of the 
invocation in the Office for the Holy Communion 
the constant expression of your heart: "And 
here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, 
ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reason- 
able, holy and living sacrifice unto Thee.*' 

To come up to the full stature of the perfect 
man in Christ Jesus, we must love as He loved — 
always, everywhere and everybody. Wherever 
a human heart beats there is sin, and, therefore,, 
suffering. To teach the guilty one the penalty 
and the remedy for his sin and to comfort the 
suffering, is the Christian's high duty, and the 
limit to it is simply the capacity God has given 
us. 

Study your own nature and see if you do 
not put this limit too low. Let each of us ask 
ourselves the question: "What am I doing for 
the Master?*' Am I using every power in His 



12 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

service, and can it be said of me as of the 
penitent woman in the Gospel, who bathed His 
sacred feet with her tears and wiped them with 
the hairs of her head, "Her sins which are many, 
are forgiven, for she loved much?" 

If love, then, be the ruling principle of our 
lives, we will live in daily and hourly dependence 
upon God, the source of all love, asking every 
morning in childlike simplicity, "Lord what 
wouldst Thou have me do this day?" Accept 
every little incident, accident, interruption, 
vexation and duty as coming from a Father's 
hand and believe that even though we mourn 
over 

"A thousand failures, what are these 
In the sight of the One All Perfect, 
Who, whether man fails in work or succeeds, 
Builds surely, solemn'y up from our broken days and deeds 
The infinite purpose of Time." 

But, you may say, the necessity of my daily 
life leaves me little leisure for what is distinct- 
ively called "Church work." The most 
successful workers in a womanly sphere I have 
ever seen have been busy wives and mothers, 
who cared for their large families, managed 
small incomes to meet great demands, and yet 



MOTIVES. 13 

always bad a heart to love and a hand to help 
God's poor. 

Ours is a day of boundless activity: the whole 
Christian world is up and doing, and all over 
this fair land of ours there are centres of work 
whose influence is felt to its remotest borders. 
Wise men are perfecting plans and systematis- 
ing efforts whose spasmodic character in the 
past has interfered with their success. 

Perhaps a large town offers the best field to 
observe the faithful laborer at his post. In a 
great city the attractions of outside objects are 
so numerous that it is hard to see. amid the 
whirl of modern life, where time can be found 
and the quietness of spirit attained that is 
needed. 

Yet. doubtless the very effort demanded to 
resist these attractions strengthens the character 
and makes the work more efficient, if in the 
parish to which you belong the clergy live in 
daily remembrance of their ordination vows and 
"search for the sick, poor and impotent people." 
and teach the flock committed to their care with 
all diligence to do the same. 



14 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Under the guidance of a faithful rector you 
will soon have such a field of duty assigned to 
you as will fill the portion of time you decide 
you can devote to outside work. If you have 
grown up under the eye of your rector, he will 
probably know even better than you do your- 
self, for what department of service you are 
most fitted. Some have unusual gifts for 
teaching — a gentleness, patience, enthusiasm 
and tact that are brought out most fully in the 
Sunday and parish schools. 

For a visitor among the poor, after a deep 
love and reverence for humanity, under all the 
forms that sorrow and suffering may stamp upon 
it, the qualities most requisite are sound 
common sense, cheerfulness, courage and per- 
severance. Good judgment, in many cases, is 
a natural gift, but it may be cultivated and 
acquired by constant observation and attention 
to the lessons taught by experience. 

You will daily feel the need of this, and 
remember that its Source is ever open to you. 
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from 
above and cometh down from the Father of 
lights." "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask 



MOTIVES. 15 

of God. that giveth to all men liberally, and 
upbraideth not; and it shall be given unto him." 
Incorporate in your daily prayer a special one 
like the Collect for Whitsun Day: "Grant us by 
the same spirit to have a right judgment in all 
things." 

Be always and everywhere a learner; think 
carefully in each case of failure where you 
might have done better, and, finding the cause 
avoid it in future. Observe the daily conduct 
of the most successful people you meet, and see 
why they succeed where so many fail. In the 
business world certain qualities are essential to 
prosperity, and success is the reward of the 
judicious, earnest, untiring and faithful seeker, 
— not the chance prize of the fortunate. Many 
cannot prosper because from ignorance, indo- 
lence, carelessness in details, want of judgment, 
or honesty; they do not deserve to do so. 

If you are naturally of an excitable tempera- 
ment, study by habitual discipline to control it. 
One of the most effectual methods of doing this 
is to exercise rigid supervision over your speech. 
Be very careful of your facts in making any 



16 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

statement, and, above all, never impute wrong 
motives to others. 

To obey the Scriptural injunction and "pray 
without ceasing," we must live always in a 
spirit of prayer, so that everything will direct 
our hearts to Him who heareth prayer. When 
you are tempted to evil speaking, or to rash or 
angry words, ask God to help you, and the heart- 
felt petition will restore your self-control. 

If your motive is pure, you will avoid many 
occasions in which the seeker after human praise 
or earthly reward will meet only disappointment 
and chagrin. 



LETTEE II. 



SYSTEM. 



"Our many deeds, the thoughts that we have thought. 

They go out from us thronging every hour, 
And in them all is folded up a power 

That on the earth will move them to and fro; 
And mighty are the marvels they have wrought 

In hearts they know not, and may never know." 

F. W. Faber. 



^EXT to the motives that impel us to the 
-£jL Master's service, and the spirit in which 
we work, the most important thing is the order 
and regularity that should characterize our 
efforts. Undoubtedly there is much good done 
in a scrambling, uncertain fashion, because 
impulsive people have a dash about them that 
carries them over many obstacles. 

When these impulses are purified by the 
grace of God they are very effectual, for genuine 
feeling is always influential, and earnestness is 
a mighty power. But when it submits meekly 



18 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

to rules, and humbly lays aside wilfulness at the 
foot of the cross, this influence and power is 
increased tenfold. 

"Order is Heaven's first law" was the motto 
in an old fashioned school room some of us 
well remember; and looking back to the presiding 
spirit of those bright days, we have a happy 
instance of chastened impetuosity and restrained 
vehemence of character, that aroused our 
enthusiastic affection; and even now the 
recollection animates us to imitation. It is well 
to recall such friends; and when they have 
passed up higher into other chambers of our 
Father's "many mansions," and find rest where 
labour never wearies, let us recount their 
virtues, and find comfort and patience from 
their blessed example. 

You kindly tell me, dear L , to be as 

"discursive" as I please; and as I only hope to 
suggest to you, from perhaps a larger experience 
rules that have seemed to me essential to success 
in any branch of Church work, I think it is 
well to recall memories of this faithful labourer 
in the vineyard of the Lord, who has just laid 
her earthly armor by. Circumstances prevented 



SYSTEM. 19 

me from placing a funeral wreath upon her 
grave, but I thought of the saying of Jean 
Paul: "The fairest funeral wreath we can offer 
upon the cold tomb of the departed is to imitate 
their good deeds.** The battle of life is such a 
fierce struggle to some ardent natures, and their 
eagerness to rush into the conflict often seems 
to send them there 

"With their forces all unmarshaled. 
With their weapons all undrawn," 

aud cooler, quieter natures find victory where 
they seem to meet only ignominious defeat. 

Such was our dear old friend and teacher 
when, in the first flush of youthful courage, she 
heeded not the many and heavy burdens that 
Providence early laid upon her, but began her 
life-long war against the world, the flesh and the 
devil. In many and sore trials, in seemingly 
crushing defeats, her constant reliance upon the 
tender mercy that watched over the battle never 
failed, for she had that highest triumph of 
faith— 

'The instinct that can tell 
That God is on the field when He 
Is most invisible." 



20 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in 
Him," was the language of her heart and lips. 
Habitual self -discipline and the sweetness of 
Christ's love diffused over her heart and life, 
at last brought outward calmness and a deep 
inward peace, which was that "which passeth 
all understanding." This enabled her to be 
"troubled on every side, yet not distressed; 
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but 
not forsaken: cast down, but not destroyed. 1 ' 

It is well to learn the happy secret of such a 
life, the source of such a marvellous strength 
made perfect in weakness. It was simply a life 
"Hid with Christ in God" and the never failing 
spring of love, joy and guidance which flows 
from the Rock of Ages when touched by the 
rod of prayer. "And we also bless Thy Holy 
Name for all Thy servants departed this life in 
Thy faith and fear; beseeching Thee to give us 
grace so to follow their good examples, that 
with them we maybe partakers of Thy heavenly 
Kingdom. " 

"Pray without ceasing," because in this way 
alone w r e can supply our weakness from Christ's 
strength, our ignorance from His wisdom, and 



SYSTEM. 21 

our blindness from His light. Not to be always 
on our knees to the neglect of pressing duties, 
not to have books of devotion always in our 
hands, but to have the spirit of prayer always in 
our hearts, and "casting down imaginations in 
every high thing that exalteth itself against the 
knowledge of God and bringing into captivity 
every thought to the obedience of Christ." 

When this is done, all our lives will be 
moulded and guided by the power of prayer 
and the Apostolic iDrecept obeyed. Next to 
prayer, system seems to be most essential to 
success in any undertaking. Order your whole 
conduct by strict rules; anticipate emergencies 
and provide beforehand for every duty. A 
towering intellect, a mighty genius may perhaps 
dispense with such discipline, though history 
proves that when they do. mental, physical or 
spiritual wreck is often the consequence. But 
persons of ordinary minds and usual education 
find untold help from a systematic preparation 
for the chances and changes of this mortal life. 

Study the works of the best of men and see 
the rules that guided them, and form from them 
directions for self-government. Particularly 



ZZ A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

would I recommend those wonderful books of 
A\Kempis, "The Imitation of Christ" and "The 
SouPs Soliloquy/ 1 Read them constantly, but 
do not be discouraged because their standard 
seems to you impossibly high. Follow the 
direction of St. Francis de Sales where he says: 
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have 
patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in 
considering your own imperfections, but in- 
stantly set about remedying them; every day 
begin the task anew. The best method for 
attaining to Christian perfection is to be aware 
that you have not reached it, and never be 
weary of recommencing. For, in the first place, 
how can you patiently bear your brother's 
burden if you will not bear your own?" 

Fill your mind with such thoughts, and 
they will come to you in times of trial like an. 
angel's voice and throw light on many a dark- 
ened way. Sensitive people with strong feelings 
know how difficult it is to restrain expressions 
when unusually moved to indignation, and how 
much harm is done by vehemence even when 
the emotion is a right one. Think, in such a 
case, of this rule of de Sales: "Be always as 



SYSTEM. 28 

mild as you # can: a spoonful of honey attracts 
more flies than a barrel of vinegar." If you 
must fall into any extreme, let it be on the side 
of gentleness. The human mind is so construct- 
ed that it resists vigor and yields to softness. 
A mild word quenches anger as water quenches 
the rage of the fire, and by benignity any soil 
may be rendered fruitful. "Truth, uttered with 
courtesy, is heaping coals of fire on the head, or 
rather, throwing roses in the face." 

Examine yourself daily as to whether you 
have failed in obedience to your self-chosen 
rules, as well as in the directions given by those 
in authority over you. Failure in the latter 
will often bring disorder into many well 
arranged plans, but the former may be known 
only to yourself and your God. Yet the result of 
disobedience will be none the less positive upon 
your own spiritual growth, as well as your 
general efficiency. "Know ye not that 
they which run in a race, run all. but one 
receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may 
obtain." To do this, every direction of St. 
Paul to the Christian athlete must be strictly 
observed. To be "temperate in all things." "to 



24 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

keep under my body and bring it into subjec- 
tion/' "f orgetting those things which are behind 
and reaching forth unto those things which are 
before,'" Redeeming the time,*' and "putting on 
the whole armour of God.*" 

Remember always, the spirit in which we 
work is far more important than the work 
itself, and good actions are often of little service 
to the doer or the recipient because marred by 
self-seeking egotism and boastfulness. "Except 
ye be converted and become as little children 
ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.** 
The simplicity, the purity of childhood, must 
come back to world-worn hearts before they can 
be faithful labourers in the vineyard of the 
Lord. 

I recollect being greatly startled at the 
declaration of an aged clergyman, in conversing 
of a church that had recently been consecrated 
in a rural neighbourhood. It was the gift of one 
person, and of fair proportions, and costly mate- 
rial. It stood on the hill top, beautiful for situa- 
tion, and at evening its sweet chime of bells rang 
out pleasantly on the still air. Beneath the 
Chancel window w r as the inscription, "To the 



SYSTEM. 25 

Glory of God and in pious memory of E. B.*' 
My old friend objected to this, saying, "Angels 
work to the glory of God. but men never." I 
asked what then he supposed the ruling motive 
in the builder of this church. 

He answered that "men's motives were 
always so mixed that it was difficult to say which 
predominated: the love of human praise, 
to increase the value of neighbouring property, 
to elevate the condition of the people about, 
and give the blessing of the Church's minis- 
trations to a community where they were 
unknown.*" This was in days when I thought 
years only should speak and age meant always 
wisdom, but I know now that there are thous- 
ands of humble Christians every where, who 
have heeded the injunction. 

"O learn to scorn the praise of men! 
learn to lose with God," 

and who are quietly, prayerfully, and in 
ways almost unknown of men. living to the 
glory of God. 

And to the credit of the age be it said, that 
there are men in high position and of great 



26 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

wealth, who say with Gregory Nazianzen: "If I 
have any possessions, health, credit, learning, 
this is all the contentment I have of them, that 
I have somewhat I may despise for Christ, who 
is totas desiderabilis, et totum desiderabile" 
(the all desirable one, the everything desirable ). 
But the vehemence of my old friend made a 
strong impression and taught me the great 
watchfulness required to keep our hearts simple 
and our motives pure. "Thy will be done on 
earth as it is in Heaven/' Jeremy Taylor says 
that we who pray thus "must remember that 
the angels do whatsoever is commanded them, 
and go wherever they are sent, and refuse no 
circumstances, and if their employment be 
crossed by a higher decree, they sit down in 
peace and rejoice in the event.'* 



LETTER III. 

PRAYER. 

Prayer blots out sins, repels temptations, quenches 
persecutions, comforts the desponding, blesses the high 
minded, guides the wan lerers, calms the billows, feeds 
the poor, directs the rich, raises the fallen, holds up the 
falling, preserves them that stand. 

Tertullian. 

0XE of the first rules for a religious life must 
be the observance of set times for private 
devotion, and to obtain the leisure for this it will 
be necessary for you to become an early riser. 
If your health is even tolerably good, you will 
find no difficulty in forming a habit of this kind, 
and you will be astonished to discover how much 
order and regularity it will enable you to intro- 
duce into your life. One hour before breakfast. 
in the quiet and cool of the early morning given 
to prayer and devotional reading, will leave its 
impress upon the rest of the day. and give you 



28 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

strength for the duties and temptations it will 
bring you. 

If you have access to many books, you will 
find in the early Fathers of the Church, and in 
some of the old English divines, an unfailing- 
treasury of devotion. Make from them a manu- 
script book of prayers, and copy into it any 
petition that seems to express your soul's 
particular needs. 

Bishop Andrewes' and Jeremy Taylor's works 
are full of devout thoughts, and Fenelon, Pascal 
and Massillon will give you many themes for 
devotional musing. Human hearts are the same 
in all ages and have the same hopes and fears, 
the same desires and temptations, and you will 
find in the quaint expressions and forcible 
language of these old writers a perpetual 
freshness that rivets the attention and touches 
the heart. 

If your actions and duties are mainly con- 
trolled by others, you will generally be able to 
secure leisure for your devotions by this early 
rising, when you cannot in any other way, for 
most people have to take up the thread of life 
immediately after the morning meal is over, and 



PBAYEB. 29 

need the calmness and strength they have found 
in prayer, at once. 

If it is your happy lot to live in a parish 
where Daily Morning and Evening Prayer is said, 
try and arrange your business to attend as often 
as possible. If your family is large, at least 
send one representative to each service. One of 
the pleasantest signs of the times is the largely 
increased attendance in parishes where this has 
been a rule for many years, and steady growth 
in the spiritual life is noticeable among those 
who avail themselves of this means of grace. 

But it requires much carefulness in the man- 
agement of duties to give the leisure for this, 
and you must make no one the sufferer by your 
absence from home. In Advent and Lent, you 
will find large families in constant attendance 
upon Daily Prayer, without interfering with 
those systematic arrangements which conduce 
so much to the peace and happiness of daily life. 

If you are so unfortunate as to live in an 
irreligious atmosphere, you will find every step 
in your path of duty requires the utmost circum- 
spection. Obey the injunction of one of the 
early Fathers, and "strive to live so that our 



30 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Master may be remembered when you are seen," 
but avoid all unnecessary speech about your 
personal Christian duty. Above all, make no 
parade of elaborate plans of what you intend to 
do and sacrifice. 

"Ever on earth men block out Babels to build 
Babylons," but it is none the less unpleasant to 
have unkindly eyes watching to see how soon 
these much-talked of purposes will be forgotten, 
or altogether fail. Form your plans with delib- 
eration, but say very little about them, save to 
those whose consent and advice is essential to 
their fulfilment. Beware of open asceticism 
and withdrawing yourself wholly from the pleas- 
ures and amusements of others. You will find 
many little ways of denying yourself and exer- 
cising strict self-discipline without attracting 
attention. If you are obliged to live among 
people who are openly opposed to religion, you 
must be constantly watchful lest you imbibe 
something of their spirit, or allow their opinions 
to influence you unduly. 

You have doubtless been shocked to hear 
expressions that seemed to you profane from the 
lips of ladies whom you know to be refined and 



PRAYER. 3] 

religious. I have heard them quote the opinions 
of members of their families about Christian 
peoj3le and speak of the lives of the Saints of 
old. the Bible and the Church, in a manner that 
is truly painful to devout minds. Exclamations 
that verge on impiety, too. are heard in such 
families. "Goodness. Gracious!" ; 'Good Fath- 
er!'* and other forms of mentioning the Deity 
carelessly, come within the scope of the Third 
Commandment, and are not only unrefined, but 
profane. 

The only possible excuse for this is that 
many women have the unreflecting habit of 
repeating what they hear, scarcely conscious 
how gross and offensive the sentiments of their 
irreligious friends are. from being accustomed 
to their expression. One witty man, with no 
fear of God before his eyes to restrain him from 
aiming his arrows at sacred themes, will some- 
times affect a whole community, and his influ- 
ence will penetrate to circles, from which he 
himself would be excluded, by the repetitions 
and comments of admiring relatives. 

The quaintness to modern ears of many old 
Saxon words used in the Bible, makes it peril- 
ously easy to point jests from them. Avoid this 



32 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

most scrupulously, for by repeating such things 
you deepen the impression they make on your 
mind, or perhaps fasten a ridiculous association 
with sacred words in a youthful memory, from 
which you can never erase it. 

Few enemies more effectually disturb our 
peace than such unhallowed jests. They will, 
by the ready devices of the great enemy of souls, 
recur to our thoughts in our most holy moments, 
and our hours of prayer and devout meditations 
will often be marred by the efforts we are obliged 
to make for their banishment. If your sense of 
the humorous is strong, you must particularly 
beware of the society and works of those who 
indulge in such a pernicious habit. 

If it is impossible for you to avoid their 
company, try and close your ears to their con- 
versation, do not touch their books, and above 
all, never draw attention to their profane wit' 
or repeat it to others. 

The early Christians were accustomed to 
observe, beside the morning and evening, three 
particular hours of the day for devotion, and 
many persons find comfort in still recalling them 
by prayer. The third hour, or nine o'clock in 



PKAYEE. 33 

the morning, at which time the Holy Ghost 
came down, the sixth, or noon, when our 
Blessed Lord was crucified, and the ninth, or 
three in the aftenoon, when — 

"The strife 
Long and sharp was ended, 

Gently to His Father's hands, 
He His soul commended." 

David said: "In the evening and morning 
and at noonday I will pray and that instantly, 
and He shall hear my voice." and "Seven times 
a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous 
judgments. " Such was his holy zeal and fervor 
that he wrote, "Mine eyes prevent the night 
watches, that I might meditate in Thy word,'' and 
"at midnight I will rise to give thanks unto 
Thee." Surely we will find help and consola 
tion in imitating his example. When the clock 
strikes, repeat some short petition, as — ; *Be 
with me now and at the hour of my death," and 
recall some promise or admonition from Holy 
Writ for your comfort and guidance. In this 
way your life will be guarded and your conver- 
sation moulded by prayer. 

Accustom yourself to observing the holy 
seasons appointed by the Church in private as 



34 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

well as in public, and dwell much upon the cen- 
tral facts whose truths are taught particularly 
there. As I write, it is the Epiphany season, 
and the humanity of our Blessed Lord is set 
forth; each w T eek a new manifestation being 
brought from the holy gospel for our learning. 

The leading of a star led the wise men from 
the East to w- orship the , new T -born King, and 
falling in their wisdom humbly at His feet, they 
offered gold for His royalty, frankincense for 
His priesthood, and myrrh for His humanity. 
See that you follow T their example, and give 
always of your best to the Lord; bring an offer- 
ing whenever you go to worship at His feet, and 
remember His fellow feeling for those who w T ith 
Him drink of "the bitter myrrh of grief." 

At this time, too, learn from the example of 
the holy Simeon and the devout Anna, who 
"departed not from the Temple, but served God 
with fasting and prayers night and day," "wait- 
ing for the consolation of Israel," how the faith- 
ful performance of daily duty is rewarded. The 
Lord whom they sought, came suddenly to His 
temple, and their aged eyes saw 7 His salvation — 
"a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of 



PRAYER. 35 

Thy people Israel." And now the Holy Church 
throughout all the world sings of Simeon's glad- 
ness in the Xioic Dim litis, and many share it 
when after years of faithful service and patient 
waiting- the Lord grants them the desire of their 
hearts, and they are ready to "depart in peace." 

Each season and festival appointed by the 
Church will bring you its own lesson, and it is 
well to learn it humbly and endeavor to practice 
it at once. Teach your scholars in the Sunday 
and parish schools, and all young people who 
come under your influence, to mark the 
appointed days, and endeavor to make each of 
them recognize their beauty and importance. 

But beware of thinking that because you 
observe them it gives you any claims to superior 
sanctity: rather consider it a blessed privilege 
God has given you in placing yon where you 
can do so. and pray that this same blessing may 
be given to others. Let the very fact of your 
possessing it make you humble. "He that 
regardeth the day. regardeth it unto the Lord.*' 
and this should make you very careful not to 
judge those who "regard it not." Faber says: 



36 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

"The Church, the Sacraments, the Faith, 

Their uphill journey take; 
Lose here, what there they gain, and if 

We lean upon them break." 

Many things are wonderful helps to a life of 
holiness, but in using them we must not forget 
the old Father who wrote seventeen hundred 
years ago — "Lean upon Christ; He will not 
withdraw to let you fall.** 






LETTEK IV. 

SELECTION. 

God is master of the scenes; we must not choose 
which part we shall act; it concerns us only to he careful 
that we do it well. Jeremy Taylor. 

Let him who gropes painfully in darkness or uncer- 
tain light, and prays vehemently that the dawn may 
ripen into day, lay this other precept well to heart, which 
was to me of incalculable service. Do the duty which 
lies nearest thee, which thoa knowest to be a duty; 
thy second duty will already become clearer. 

Sartor Resartfs. 

OV suggest that I should write more parti c- 
L ularly of each branch of what is distinct- 
ively called "Church Work.'' that you may 
decide which is your especial field, and you 
speak of the difficulty which the decision 
involves. I think if you will reflect upon the 
wise sayings of good Bishop Taylor and the 
quaint utterances of Carlyle, you will learn 
more wisdom than from any hints of mine. 
Please remember, in giving them. I do not 
claim the least originality, but can only say each 



cu 



38 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

thought has been fully tried in real plans and 
places, and each suggestion has been taught by 
experience. 

In relation to forming plans it is very 
important to observe this rule, and not do so 
from theory merely. Build, if jjossible, on old 
foundations, for while it is easy to sit in a 
comfortable study and put upon paper pleasant 
dreams for the management of others, the world 
can never be governed thus. Every item must 
be submitted to the stern test of actual proof, 
and you can never calculate the amount of force 
required to produce a certain effect until you 
know the exact resistance that is to be over- 
come. Plans, seemingly poor ones, often work 
better than some appearing much fairer, that 
have never been tried. 

If you go to a new place and find a parish 
working under what you judge to be great 
defects of organization, do not be hasty in 
condemning them or proposing change. Try 
faithfully what can be done in the old ways 
before proposing alterations. If these are 
really based upon radical errors, if you are 
quick and observant, you can find many little 



SELECTION. 39 

methods of introducing reforms without excit- 
ing enmity. Be very careful always in speaking 
of any good work that proceeds from right 
motives, even if it seems to you faulty in design 
and imperfect in execution. Carelessness, 
disobedience and hasty yielding to impulse will 
bring confusion into the best arranged schemes, 
while painstaking faithfulness in little things 
and constant, persevering and prayerful efforts 
will bring good out of evil. 

In every parish where you are likely to live, 
you will find a Sunday School, and your educa- 
tion fits you to take part in it. Do not wait to 
be asked, but at once offer your services to the 
rector, or superintendent. If you are in a new 
home, it is always best to bring a letter from 
your former rector which you should immedi- 
ately present. Congregations in towns and 
cities fluctuate so constantly that it is impossi- 
ble for you at once to begin your true course of 
duty in a strange place without you make 
yourself known to the proper authorities. 

Never allow yourself to cherish any hurt 
feeling because you have not been asked to join 
in any good work. Remember that it is God's 



40 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

work, and the motive that prompts you to 
engage in it, is the love of His Son Jesus; it is 
a blessed privilege to be allowed to take the 
least part in building up His Kingdom, and "in 
the royal galley of divine love there is no force, 
the rowers are all volunteers." 

If there should be no vacant class at once, 
be content to take temporary charge of any 
whose teacher may be absent, and throw your 
heart into this work just as much as if it was 
your own particular class. It is undoubtedly 
pleasanter and better to have one regular set of 
children whose character and dispositions you 
may study and adapt your teachings to their 
individual capacities, and if you are to remain 
for any length of time in one place, you should 
look forward to this. Always prepare yourself 
carefully for your instruction, and study the 
whole lesson faithfully. 

The arrangement of the Sundays in the 
Christian year brings each fact in the life of our 
Blessed Lord into prominence, and each of the 
doctrines of the "faith once delivered to the 
saints. 1 ' You must yourself steadfastly believe 
in these facts and doctrines, not with a languid 



SELECTION. 41 

aequiescense, but with the hearty earnestness 
that comes with the fall conviction of their 
truth. 

Unless you do so, I do not think it is well 
for you to attempt to teach others. If in hours 
of despondency, doubts suggested by the great 
enemy of souls, come into your mind, do not 
cherish them, but drive them out by prayer and 
action. Do not attempt to reason them or bring 
forward arguments, but only pray. 

In calmer hours, when the darkness has 
passed, examine the foundation of your faith 
and "prove all things," "holding fast to that 
which is good." Study what the wisest and 
best of men have written in explanation of the 
holy mysteries of the Word of God, and be 
assured that as one of them has said, to take it 
"always as our directory, is to walk upon a path 
which, whether rugged or smooth, overshadowed 
or illuminated, shall bring us at length to 
immortality and joy." 

One other thought from "Saturday Evening," 
may be of service to you here: "Now 7 we need 
wish, if rightly minded, for nothing more (when 
once convinced that the Bible is from God) 



42 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

than to rest quietly upon its implicit disregard 
of the doubts which so much disturb our peace. 
For we may safely infer from the manifest 
tranquillity of the messengers from Heaven that 
all is well, if looked upon from a point suffi- 
ciently high. Just as when a father, stationed 
on an eminence, is watching the progress of 
his sons through a labyrinth. They may confi- 
dently presume their course is a right one, so 
long as they see a cheerful smile on his face." 

The next requisite for the faithful teaching 
of a class in Sunday School, after careful prepa- 
ration and full convictions of the truths to be 
taught, is punctuality. Unless you can reason- 
ably expect to be able to fulfil this requirement, 
it is hardly worth while for you to take charge 
of a regular class. If others have the direction 
of your affairs, so that you cannot be present 
when the school opens, you had better select 
some other field for usefulness, for two or three 
unfaithful teachers in this respect will bring an 
element of confusion and disorder into a whole 
school. 

Who cannnot recall the sadly familiar 
spectacle of a large class whispering, crowding, 



SELECTION. 43 

playing tricks upon other classes near, throwing 
the books about, scraping their feet, and by 
many annoying ways showing to the whole 
school the absence of their teacher. 

One insubordinate regiment will sometimes 
affect a whole army, and it is the same in all 
bodies where numbers render discipline essen- 
tial. I have heard teachers excuse themselves 
by saying. "But I was only absent from the 
oi^ening devotions, and was ready to begin 
teaching at the usual hour." Think what 
disrespect is implied in such a plea. 

Before engaging in the deeply important 
work of training young minds and hearts to love 
and serve their God. you ask His blessing 
upon your labors, you confess your infirmities, 
you ask His assistance, and you render your 
tribute of praise and thanksgiving. Yet you 
stay away yourself, not perhaps wilfully, but 
because you have not made the careful prepara- 
tion to be punctual, that, if you live among 
indifferent people, the effort to be so requires. 

Let your dress be more simple, if possible, 
on Sundays than other days, so that no unusual 
time may be consumed in the duties of the 



44 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

toilet. Be always neat and tasteful in apparel, 
but particularly upon the Lord's Day avoid all 
extravagances of dress and trinkets. T have 
seen a class of girls in Sunday School so busily 
engaged in counting the bangles that hung from 
their teacher's wrist, or so intently studying her 
flounces or "knife pleatings," that they could 
not attend to her instructions. 

You may wear these things with little 
thought or self-consciousness about their 
becomingness, but it is often a snare to girls 
in an humbler station in life, and they, if spoken 
to upon the subject, will justify their own imita- 
tions by saying, "My Sunday School teacher 
wears them." 

It is said to be peculiarly an American 
inelegance to appear in gay, unsuitable clothing 
at church; and doubtless, particularly in the 
country, you have seen costumes that were 
more fitted for the ball-room and theatre than 
the sanctuary. Long streamers of brilliantly 
tinted ribbons and fluttering laces will come 
floating up the aisles during the service in a 
way very distracting to the devout worshipper, 



SELECTION. ±0 

and the want of punctuality must often be attribu- 
ted to the time necessary for th e elaborate arrange- 
ments. If your taste allows you. wear them at 
other times. If you wish to be a successful 
teacher in the Sunday School, it will be cer- 
tainly best to lay them aside while engaged in 
your duties there. 

Endeavor to be in your place at least a few 
minutes before the hour of the opening services, 
that you may exchange quiet greetings with 
your scholars, inquire for their parents, or 
relatives, and receive any little confidence they 
may like to give you. See that each one has 
his Prayer Book and Hymnal, with the Collect 
for the Sunday and the Psalter for the day 
marked, so as to be found readily in the service. 

If a new scholar should be present, find out 
his name and residence that you may speedily 
call upon him in his own house. Improve these 
moments also by enjoining upon the scholars 
strict attention and reverence during the reading 
of the Gospel and Lessons, and full responses in 
the Psalter, Prayers and Creeds. Try to avoid 
reproof while the service is going on. by this 
advice before-hand, and be always yourself truly 



46 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

and unaffectedly reverent in manner and re- 
sponse. The affection of children is seldom hard 
to gain; love them so much that they will be 
sure to love you in return, and manifest your 
regard by thoughtful attention to their interest 
and comfort. Sympathize with their joys and 
sorrows, and let them fully understand that their 
Sunday School teacher is always and everywhere 
their friend. Avoid a light, flippant manner in 
addressing them, and ask any little favour in a 
polite and respectful way, such as you would 
use to the child of an acquaintance. Give as 
few commands as possible, but let it be distinctly 
understood that they must be immediately 
obeyed. 

Put little matters into the form of a request, 
and be sure to make it rather in the light of a 
personal favor than the mandate of a superior. 
Grave, serious offences against the laws of the 
school must be put down at once, and by being 
very careful not to overstrain your authority by 
peremptorily insisting upon trifling arrange- 
ments, you will be able to exert it effectually 
when the case requires. Make large allowances 
for the high spirits of youth, and the mischief 



SELECTION. 47 

that seems inherent in most children, and be 
sparing of reproof for minor offences. 

In speaking of your class to others, be very 
careful of the terms you apply to them, and do 
not readily believe evil of them except -upon the 
best of evidence. I heard a young lady con- 
sulting a friend about the best way of managing 
a disorderly class, and she spoke of the boys 
who composed it as "the little wretches." ''the 
savages."" and "the outrageous young ones.*" I 
could not help thinking that the first step in 
their reformation would have to be taken by the 
teacher herself, in elevating her thoughts and 
refining her language, as well as in learning 
the true dignity and importance of training the 
young for the service of God. 

Everywhere we find untaught, untrained 
children, and we should heed the voice with 
which they cry to us. saying — 

"Give us light amid our darkness. 
Let us know the good from ill, 
Hate us not for all our blindness, 
Lead us, love us, show us kindness, 
You may make us what you will. 

'•We shall be whate'er you make us. 
Make us wise and make us good. 
Make us strong for times of trial, 
Teach us temperance, self-denial, 
Patience, kindness, fortitude." 



LETTER V, 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

"Up to me sweet childhood looketh, 
Heart and mind and soul awake, 

Teach me of Thy ways, oh Father, 
For sweet childhood's sake. 

<# In their young hearts soit and tender, 
Guide my hands good seed to sow, 

That its blossoming may praise Thee 
Wheresoe'er they go." 

75TOU have doubtless heard it said repeatedly 
£-*- that the Sunday School, upon which so 
much time, money, strength and labour are 
expended, is after all a failure, and that the old- 
fashioned way of teaching children before 
Robert Raik.es' day is best. Let us go back, 
say a hundred years, and examine the old paths 
in which our fathers walked, and see in what 
their superiority consisted. 

The exhortation to sponsors, after baptism, 
was the same then as now, and they were 
reminded that it was "their parts and duties to 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 49 

see that this infant be taught, as soon as he shall 
be able to learn, what a solemn vow. promise and 
profession he hath here made, and that ye shall 
call upon him to hear sermons, and chiefly, ye 
shall provide that he may learn the Creed, the 
Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, in 
the vulgar tongue, and all other things which a 
Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's 
health. " Confirmation was solemnly enjoined 
as soon as he was "further instructed in the 
Church Catechism set forth for that purpose." 

The first rubric after the Catechism was. "The 
curate of every parish shall diligently, upon 
Sunday and holy days, after the Second Lesson 
at Evening Prayer, openly, in the church, 
instruct and examine so many children of the 
parish sent unto him as he shall think conveni- 
ent, in some part of this Catechism." 

"And all fathers, mothers, masters, and dames 
shall cause their children, servants and 
arjprentices (which have not learned their 
Catechism), to come to church at the time 
appointed, and obediently to hear, and be 
ordered by the curate, until such time as they 
have learned all that is here appointed for them 



50 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

to learn." If these provisions had been faith- 
fully carried out, I cannot see that anything 
was left to be desired in the education of 
children in Christian duty. 

In families of education and standing, 
particularly in the State of Virginia, this was 
often done, and when the parish church was at 
too great a distance for the children and servants 
to attend there regularly, the clergyman would 
go from house to house, and assembling them, 
often in the spacious hall, would carry out the 
spirit, if not the letter, of the old rubric. 

Or, if the incumbent from age or infirmity 
was unequal to this, the master, and in many 
cases the mistress, would call together the 
children and the servants and teach them the 
Catechism. You occasionally come upon 
traces of this old fashion in the reverent 
demeanor of the children of those who were 
thus taught. I read in my childhood to an old 
colored woman, who, although bent with age 
and disease, would rise from her seat and bow 
reverently at the Most Holy Name; and she 
did not consider that any religious instruction 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 51 

given to her was complete, until she had said, 
"my belief." as "old Mistis" had taught her to do. 

I was struck with the intelligence and 
understanding of the Catechism shown in 
conversation by a middle-aged colored woman 
not long since, and asked her where she had 
learned it. She said, "my grandmother was 
paralyzed for years before her death, but had 
all of her faculties of mind. She used to make 
us children stand round her bed. every Sunday 
evening, and say the Catechism. She was Lady 
Washington's maid, and her mistress taught all 
her servants to say the Catechism perfectly, 
and grandmother never forgot it." So the echo 
of a woman's voice once singing through the 
halls of Mt. Vernon, has not died out yet: may 
that from our Sunday Schools be as lasting! 

But these happy homes began to be the 
exception rather than the rule. 

Through the increase of population and change 
in the laws, the growth of towns, and relaxing 
of family discipline, hundreds of children were 
growing up outside of the Christian fold. 
Denial of the holy rite of Baptism to infants 
became very common, and people beo-an to 



52 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

carp at and criticise the words of the Prayer 
Book, even where they followed most closely 
those of the Bible. 

Parents and sponsors were often careless of 
their duties and seemingly forgetful of their 
solemn promises. Then came the Sunday 
School, at first to gather in the untaught and 
neglected children from the streets, but soon 
embracing all the young members of the con- 
gregation, until it is rare to find, in towns of 
moderate size, native-born people who have not 
been brought under the influence of these 
schools. Statistics say that about two-thirds of 
the convicts (not foreigners) in our penitentia- 
ries have been Sunday School scholars at some 
time in their lives. 

Do not think that this is in the least an 
argument against Sunday Schools; it is only a 
picture of the world and of the Church every- 
where. The wheat and the tares grow together 
until the time of the harvest, and the same soil, 
air, rain and sunshine nourish both. One draws 
from them kindly forces and healthy nutriment, 
the other noxious gases and poisonous juices, 
and everywhere in the mysterious economy of 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 53 

nature, the principles of life and death are side 
by side. 

To select and train the one, and so change 
the nature or provide an antidote for the other. 
is the task given to man's judgment, and its 
exercise requires the employment and cultiva- 
tion of all his faculties. 

Each Sunday School is a miniature world, 
and those whose high vocation it is to teach 
there, cannot be too fully impressed with the 
dignity and importance of their work. 

"What though unmarked the happy workman toil, 
And break unthanked of man, the stubborn clod, 

It is enough, for sacred is the soil, 
Dear are the hills of Go J." 

Recollect always that it is God's field you are 
to cultivate, His children you are to teach and 
train, and He alone can give you wisdom to 
adapt your teaching to the capacity of each 
individual soul committed to your charge. 
Perhaps it may be your happy privilege to plant 
seed in a young heart that may bring forth fruit 
to the glory of God, and the blessing of the 
world when your voice is silent in the grave. 



54 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

To many children jjou take the place of 
absent or forgetful sponsors, and you should be 
careful to remember the solemnity of their 
promise. And some, alas, come to Sunday 
School from irreligious homes, where God and 
duty are almost unknown. 

To the latter you must pay especial attention, 
for you may be the only one to teach them of 
holy things and lead their feet into the way of 
peace. This teaching may be the one refining 
and humanizing influence that comes into lives 
darkened by poverty and sin. Study, then, to 
educate your every faculty of mind and body to 
fit you for this task, which might well demand 
an angel's powers. 

"Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin, 
But upward, onward, tilJ the goal you win." 

The Sunday School should be strictly subor- 
dinate to the church. Its main design is to 
bring the children of the erring ones back to the 
fold from which their parents have wandered, to 
train those of the faithful committed to it to an 
understanding of their duties and an apprecia- 
tion of their privileges, and to fit its scholars to 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 55 

enter into the prayers and praises of God's 
house. 

It may not always be possible to provide 
seats for them in church, though great efforts 
should be made to attain this, and impress upon 
them the reverence due to the courts of the Lord. 
If the children are taught the imperative duty 
of self-restraint in the school, they can be made 
to understand how much more important it is 
to exercise it in church, and refrain from whis- 
pering, moving their feet, leaning over the seats, 
arranging their clothing, and by their idleness 
and inattention disturbing the clergyman and 
congregation. 

Teaching by example is always effective, and 
if you are truly reverent yourself, you can make 
a stronger appeal to your scholars to be so, too. 
Rise from your seat promptly, and kneel when 
appointment requires, and respond in an audible 
voice. One of the most difficult and delicate 
acts is that of reproving without giving offense, 
and nothing but a careful study of each individ- 
ual disposition under your care will enable you 
to do this. 



56 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

If the children understand that you really 
love them, and are deeply interested in their 
welfare, the task is much easier. If you keep 
them engrossed with their lessons, they will find 
little leisure for the whispering and mischievous 
tricks and noises which disturb the whole school. 
It is always easier to drive out evil by substitut- 
ing good and leaving no room for it, and event- 
ually making habit, as the old proverb calls it, 
''second nature." 

The plain, practical duties, taught in the 
Bible and the Catechism are said to be out of 
fashion now and behind the age, and "to submit 
myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual 
pastors and masters," unworthy of the dignity 
of young republicans. 

Lawlessness seems the bane of modern life, 
and the increase of youthful offenders in the 
records of crime is very noticeable. Thackeray, 
when on a visit to America, was asked what he 
thought the most striking difference in society 
here, replied that he "had been much struck by 
the strictness of family discipline." And when 
told that this was quite contrary to the received 
opinion, said, "I have never anywhere seen such 
obedient parents." 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 57 

What traveller has not noticed this in busy 
station houses — the youngest member of the 
party, perhaps a girl of thirteen, ordering all 
the arrangements, selecting the most unsuitable 
and expensive articles for luncheon, directing 
the coachman — often quite in the wrong direc- 
tion — and seating each person according to her 
fancy, while the parents look on uncomfortably, 
but without remonstrance. 

You will often have to contend against this 
in your scholars. They will criticise the rector 
and superintendent, and assume that their 
opinion and management is much the best for 
everyone. Be very careful not to fall under 
the dominion of one of these strong-minded 
young people, nor let their judgment of those in 
authority at all influence you. Unless you can 
insist upon and enforce instant obedience to the 
rules of the school, you will find that the 
confusion which will prevail in your class will 
prevent your instruction from being heard, and 
when criticism begins, open rebellion will soon 
follow. 

A large school may be well, but one under 
good and thorough discipline will be better. At 
the first tap of the superintendent's bell, let all 



58 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

teaching and conversation cease at once; no 
matter how important the matter you are dis- 
cussing may be, discipline must be maintained 
and rules respected, and you must set the 
example of cheerful acquiescence. 

Obedience and self-control are two of the 
essential duties you have to teach, and you can- 
not effectually do so unless you practice them 
yourself. Children who are accustomed to 
acknowledge no rules but their own inclination, 
and submit to no government but that of their 
own changing fancies, are very difficult subjects 
to govern. Nothing but constant, prayerful 
efforts, will teach them how much happier they 
can be under firm, but loving control. 

Prepare every Sunday for a constant trial of 
your temper and patience, until they have 
learned this happy lesson, and, above all, never 
exhibit anger in your dealings with them. "He 
that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; 
and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that 
taketh a city." Anger is short madness, and 
words spoken while under its dominion will be 
most often hasty, and perhaps sinful, words. 

Unless you wish to mar your own and other 
lives, you will have learned to be particularly 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 59 

careful to control your speech even when justly 
provoked. The Holy Scriptures command us to 
"be angry and sin not." Outward calmness is 
essential to this, and by keeping perfectly still, 
we can recover our equanimity even when most 
sorely tempted. 

There are many excellent books of Sunday 
School instruction, and the rector generally 
selects the ones that seem to him best 
Those are most helpful which follow closely the 
course of the Christian year; besides, loyalty to 
our own Church, should teach us to prefer them. 
Each fact in the life of our blessed Lord is 
brought out with suitable prominence. 

The year begins with Him when in Advent 
we wait and watch for His coming and with 
wills stirred up by the expectation, "put upon 
us the whole armour of light," always remem- 
bering that though His first coming to visit 
us was <; in great humility" we look for the 
second Advent, "in His Glorious Majesty.'* 

"One to another hear them speak 

The ratient, virgins wise; 
Surely He is not far to seek. 

All night we watch and rise! 
The days are evil, looking back, 

The coming days are dim; 
Yet count we not His promise slack 
But watch and wait for Him." 



LETTEE VI. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 



Be always displeased with what thou art, if thou 
desirest to attain to what thou art not, for where thou 
hast pleased thyself, there thou abidest. But if thou 
1 sayest, I have enough,thou perishest. Always add.always 
walk, alway proceed. Neither stand still, nor go back, 
nor deviate. St. Augfstine. 

The thoroughly good men are those who have done 
everything thoroughly, and who, in a word, have never 
despised anything however small, of God's making. 

Rusk in. 



O WHERE will you find more use for all 
the gifts and graces of the Spirit than in 
the Sunday School, and nowhere will you feel 
more all the deficiences of your education than 
when in contact with a class of bright, though 
unruly children, recently gathered, perhaps, from 
the streets of the city. Let the fact make you 
humble, and excite you to increased diligence 
in the cultivation of every power of your mind. 

Learn to think accurately, to trace certain 
effects to given causes, and carefully treasure up 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 61 

the lessons experience teaches. Take one hun- 
dred children anywhere and study their charac- 
ters and dispositions thoroughly, and you will 
find that you have learned child-nature under 
almost every possible variety. Occasionally one 
will start up whom it seems impossible to guide 
and govern by any ordinary rules. Consult the 
w r isest teachers you know about these. They 
can tell you, most likely, of similar cases and how 
at last, roughness, impertinence, and worst of 
all, irreverence, were softened, subdued and 
banished, by persistent gentleness, faithfulness 
and prayer. 

If you teach quite young children, who read 
imperfectly, it is better to do so orally. Many 
of the kindergarten methods are suitable in an 
infant school, and will attract the attention of 
the youngest child. In these days, free schools, 
night schools and parish schools so fill the 
land that there is hardly a neighbourhood where 
you are likely to be, that the children have not 
the opportunity of learning to read. 

In the short time appropriated to Sunday 
School, you can make little progress in doing 
this, and religious truth is of much more 



62 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

importance. While the memory is strong, as it 
is in early youth, be careful to store it with the 
exact words of the Scripture, the Catechism 
and the Collects. These will be a lasting 
treasure, and when the understanding awakens, 
as it will later, it will have abundant stores of 
material to draw from. Do not be discouraged 
because you will have to repeat the same words 
and truths, day after day, and year after year 
without seeming to make the least impression. 
We must do our duty and leave the rest to God. 
There is much comfort in the story told of a 
clergyman in the north of Ireland, who, visiting 
a cottage near the linen bleaching grounds, was 
told by an old woman how much instruction 
and guidance she had derived from his ministra- 
tion in church. He questioned her closely, 
but found it impossible for her to remember 
anything said there perfectly enough to repeat. 
Seeing his discouragement, she took him to the 
field and showed him the linen spread upon the 
grass just from the loom, yellow and stained, 
and then that bleached by the influence of sun 
and shower. Such, she said, was her heart and 
life when first drawn to the Church ; but though 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 68 

she could not tell which prayer or sermon had 

brought light to her darkened mind, it had 

come as the water and the sunshine to the linen. 

So may it be with your scholars, they, — 

"Like the stained web that whitens in the sun, 
Grow pure by being purely shone upon." 

If you have charge of the infant class, do not 
weary them by keeping their attention too long 
upon one subject. The Creed, the Lord's Prayer, 
the Ten Commandments and the Collect for 
the day, may be gone over every Sunday; but 
you can let them sing a hymn or chant between. 
A short choral service at the opening of the 
school seems to keep the attention of everyone 
best. Let the versicles be short, and a few days 
of training will teach the whole school to re- 
spond perfectly. Thus let the boys sing: 

"O Lord, show Thy mercy upon us," 

and the girls respond: 

"And grant us Thy salvation." 

and so on through the selection appointed. 
Having once decided upon an opening form of 
devotion for the school, it is best not to change 
it without very good reason. Adapt the hymns 



64 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

to the season of the Christian year and sing one 
often enough to make the children perfectly 
familiar with it. The Sunday School is to train 
the children for the Church, so it is best that 
the prayer and praises should be those author- 
ized by her Councils and printed with her 
sanction. 

The Hymnal furnishes many suitable and 
beautiful hymns for each season. 

Select say for Epiphany : 

"As with gladness men of old, 
Did the guiding star behold," 

or the pleasant and simple hymn: 

"Sons of men behold Jrom far," 

and retain the same ones year after year, so 
that when the children hear it in after days they 
may say at once, "That is our Sunday School 
hymn!" 

The power of association is very strong, and 
I cannot write the lines of these hymns without 
the sweet voices of some white-robed choristers 
coming back to me through the cloisters, and up 
the aisles of a quaint old church, where their 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 65 

clear, ringing notes, led the procession of Sun- 
day School children coming into service, and the 
vivid imagery took the listener back to the 
first Epiphany whose story was pictured in the 
bright tints of the eastern window. Septuages- 
ima always brought "Alleluia ! song of sweetness,*" 
for the first note of preparation which then 
begins for the holy fast of Lent which was 
ushered in by the hymn: 

"Forty days and forty nights." 

It is well to call all the good forces of 
human nature to help the work of the Sunday 
School. Impressions made through the senses 
are strong in children, and verses and mottoes 
fixed on the walls of churches and school rooms 
will remain embedded in the memory forever. 
Let the Sunday School rooms be as pleasant as 
you can make them; and if poverty prevents 
you from making much permanent decoration, 
let it be always neat and clean. 

Enlist the feelings of the scholars to keep it 
so, and teach them those principles of neatness 
and honest care for the property of others, 
that keep them from defacing the seats, walls, 
and particularly the books. 



66 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

A deeper feeling should be called in for the 
latter, as those used in Sunday School come 
within the injunction of the Catechism, "to 
honour His Holy Name and His Word." The 
Bibles, Prayer Books and Hymnals should be 
reverently handled and carefully laid away, for 
they contain what should be most precious to 
every human heart, the written Word of God. 

Some rectors have the gift of administration 
in a remarkable degree, and will leave their 
impress upon a parish for many years after 
they have passed away. If you are fortunate 
enough to live in such a parish, study carefully 
the plans their wisdom has devised, that you 
may put them in practice in other places. 
Blessed be God, there are many such parishes 
all over our country; but I would like to 
describe one to show how persevering effort will 
overcome obstacles that seem, at first, unsur- 
mountable. 

Perhaps the most difficult field of labour, 
unless you can control a great deal of money, 
is a parish in the lower wards of a large city. 
The tide of fashion moving upward has long 
since swept all families of the better classes 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 67 

away; but among the crowded ranks of ware- 
houses, factories and shops, there are lanes, 
alleys, and courts filled with tenement houses, 
and swarming with children. 

In just such a neighborhood is the parish of 
All Saints" and the large, old-fashioned church, 
said to have been designed in Colonial days by 
Sir Christopher Wren, has been left a mile or 
more from the residence of those who were, 
perhaps, baptized at its ancient font. To teach 
in its Sunday Schools is truly missionary labour, 
and this is one reason of its great efficiency. 
Those who do so must be drawn by heart-felt 
interest in the work, or they would not make the 
self-denying efforts necessary to reach the 
church from a distance of some miles, at the 
early hour of the morning school. 

The new parish building was constructed 
over the cloisters, and the room for the general 
Sunday School is in the third story, the second 
being appropriated to the infant and parish 
school rooms, and to the Bible classes. This 
large and airy room accommodated five hundred 
children so pleasantly that you were -never 
conscious how many were there. Cocoa matting 



68 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

deadened the sound of feet, and circular 
benches, with the teacher's chair at the 
opening, gave you the impression of teaching 
in a separate room. 

At each season, texts, especially bringing out 
the lesson taught by it, are placed over the 
arches of the windows. At Advent, "Behold 
thy King cometh, go ye out to meet Him," 
and other similar sentences, attracted the eye on 
entering. These were changed at Christmas 
for evergreen mottoes among the wreaths and 
garlands of the decorations for the Feast of the 
Nativity. Again in Lent the sentence in purple 
letters, "Rend your heart and not your garments, 
and turn unto the Lord your God," prepared you 
at once for the changed character of the 
opening services. The triumphant carols that 
welcomed the Nativity gave place to the plead- 
ings of penitence and the supplications of 
contrite hearts. 

The class and school banners were ranged 
among the pictures and framed mottoes upon 
the walls, and each of these had its history of 
joy and sorrow with which the children were 
familiar. The picture of "The Good Shepherd" 






THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 69 

enfolding a lamb upon His Bosom, came from 
the nursery of a lovely child, whose closing 
moments were clouded by delirious fancies, but 
whose infant accents lisped among them the 
reverent thoughts associated with this cherished 
companion of her childhood. And, those texts 
were worked by hands whose earthly labours are 
ended, and who are learning, in upper countries, 
the full meaning of truths seen but dimly here. 

One side of the room was appropriated to 
closets where the books for the schools were 
kept. The boys" classes were numbered, and 
the girls' lettered, and each had a shelf and box 
given to it. These were unlocked a few 
moments before the superintendent's bell gave 
notice for perfect silence, and each teacher 
distributed to her class the cards containing 
the opening service, the Prayer Book and 
Hymnals. 

Places were found in the latter, and the choir 
called to seats about the organ, which was be- 
neath the superintendent's platform. A hymn 
for the season was printed on linen rolls hung 
on the walls. After the devotions were over, 



70 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

five minutes were allowed for marking attend- 
ance by the teacher, gathering the offerings and 
placing the returned library books, with cards 
enclosed, upon the librarian's desk. Then came 
two bells for perfect silence for the lesson. 
Thirty-five minutes were allotted to this. 

The officers of the school, under the rector, 
consisted of a superintendent, a lady assistant, 
who walked through the girls' classes, a secre- 
tary, who did the same for the boys, marking 
the attendance of every child, a librarian and 
his assistants. The choirmaster came in for a 
few moments before the close of the school, and 
taught a new strain for the chants, or a new 
hymn for the next season. Five minutes, before 
the children marched down into the church, were 
allowed for collecting and returning the cards 
and books to their boxes in the closets. 

A gallery committee was appointed each 
Sunday to oversee the children in church. They 
stood at the door to loan a Prayer Book and 
Hymnal to each child who was without them, 
and marked strictly each one's behaviour. The 
penalty for whispering, or any other irreverent 
conduct, was to be deprived of a library book. 






THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 71 

These were given out at the second session 
of the school which began at half-past two. and 
was devoted to the Catechism and review of 
the morning lesson. Some time was given to 
the practice of hymns, and attendance at Even- 
ing Prayer was not exacted except upon the 
first Sunday of the month. Then the school 
marched into the body of the church and were 
catechised by the rector. 

Every child received, from a prize fund left 
by a former superintendent, a handsome certifi- 
cate as soon as he could repeat the Catechism 
perfectly. The superintendent remained after 
the second session of the school to hear all 
whose names the teachers sent up to him for 
this purpose, and the certificates were presented, 
framed, at the children's monthly service. You 
could see them hanging upon dingy walls in those 
crowded courts where the children lived, often 
the sole ornament, and they were always pointed 
out with pride and pleasure by the parents. 

The order of the school was excellent and its 
perfect machinery moved smoothly and quietly. 
A roll of honour was hung upon the wall, con- 
taining the names of those who obeyed the 



72 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

rules. These were a sort of upper form, and they 
wore badges and had some slight monitorial 
duty. To be degraded from this roll was much 
dreaded. Open irreverence and disobedience 
were the offences punished thus. 

The graded questions published by Rev. Dr. 
Cook of St. John's chapel, New York, were used 
and thus the whole school could use the same 
book. After a scholar had passed from the 
infant school through the different classes of 
this upper room, he was placed in a Bible 
class on the floor below. 

I have thus endeavoured to answer your 
request, and tell you of a school where teaching 
was surrounded by everything to make it 
pleasant, and I hope you will find in it much 
that you can imitate in your own home. The 
perfect discipline and regularity rendered it the 
best I have seen. 

Blessed will be the reward of these and like 
faithful teachers, not perhaps in this world, 
where it is given to few to see the return of the 
ripened sheaves from the harvest; but at the 
breaking of some fair morning in Paradise, when 
clustering spirits shall come to greet them and 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 73 

say — "you loved us, you prayed for us. you 
taught us, you trained our infant lips to sing 
the praises of Him who died for us; you led 
our youthful steps into the paths of holiness, 
and death had no sting and the valley of the 
shadow of death no terror. Now in the light 
of the presence of the Holy One. we wait the 
full employment and enjoyment of the ransomed 
in Heaven.'' 

"They that be wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and they that 
turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever 
and ever." 



LETTER VII. 

LENT. 

The Paschal lamb was eaten with bitter herbs— a 
perpetual lesson that bitterness and sorrow are the road 
to joy. Pascal. 

Immortal, the soul dwells in the mortal body; so 
the Christians dwell in the corruptible, but looked for 
incorruption in heaven The soul is better for restriction 
in food and drink; so the Christians increase, though 
daily punished. This lot God has assigned to the Chris- 
tians in the world and it cannot be taken from them.— 
Epistola ad Diognctum. ( Second Century ) 

TsTOU write me that you cannot help shrinking 
£-*- from the active duties of a spiritual life, 
that the seclusion to which imperative family 
claims have for years confined you, unfit you 
now for constant contact with others. This is 
a natural feeling, but, if too long indulged, will 
become morbid. It is just at such a critical 
stage in life that so many women fail, and after 
being self-denying and devoted to their own 
families, when they cease to demand their care, 
they sink into indolent, selfish and aimless 
beings, or fretful, discontented invalids. 



LENT. 75 

Jean Paul says most truly, "The first thing 
we have to contend against in sorrow, as in 
anger, is its poisonous, enervating sweetness, 
which we are so loth to exchange for the labour 
of consoling ourselves and to drive away by the 
efforts of reason." This can best be done by 
beginning at once some active duty to benefit 
others, and it is well that the season of the 
Christian year has come when you can, by fast- 
ing, penitence and prayer, prepare yourself for 
your work. You have been so thoroughly 
instructed in the Bible and Church history, that 
it is not necessary to say anything of the great 
value of this partial withdrawal from the world, 
for the dear fast of Lent: 

"Which Christ Himseif the Lord and Guide, 
Of every season sanctified.' - 

But it is well, each year to feel what a privi- 
lege it is thus to follow His example, believing 
that the only aim of life is to tread in His 
steps. 

"Whosoever w T ill come after Me, let him deny 
himself and take up his cross and follow Me." 
Follow Him into the wilderness where forty 



76 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

days He fasted and overcame the temptation of 
the devil, that, like Him also in victory, angels 
may come and minister unto us. 

Holy Scripture and the Church direct you 
to fast, and the latter, in her wisdom, has ap- 
pointed particular seasons and days when this 
duty is expressly enjoined. Study the table of 
the "days of fasting or abstinence" that you 
will find in the Prayer Book, and you will see 
that the u forty days of Lent" head the list. Pray 
that God will give us grace to use them aright, 
and while obeying the injunction of the Holy 
Gospel for Ash Wednesday, "that thou appear 
not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father 
which is in secret," we may use such abstinence 
that our flesh, being subdued to the Spirit, we 
may ever obey His godly motions in righteous- 
ness and true holiness. 

Our Church, while thus strictly enjoining 
the duty, and teaching the benefits of fasting, 
leaves a large liberty to her children. You 
cannot be faithful to this duty, or obedient to 
her teaching, unless you use some abstinence 
from food, amusements and pleasures at other 
times harmless. 



LENT. i < 

"More sparing therefore let us make 
lhe words we speak, the food we take. 
Deny ourselves in mirth and sleep, 
In stricter watch our senses keep. 

"In prayer together let us fall, 
And cry for mercy one and all, 
And weep before the Judge and say- 
On! turn from us Thy wrath away." 

Many give up one article of food they are 
accustomed to use at each meal, such as butter, 
sugar, tea. coffee, sweetmeats, or sweets for the 
season, and some, whose health permit, keep 
Wednesday, the day on which our Blessed Lord 
was betrayed, and Friday, that on which He 
was crucified, as stricter fasts. You will haye 
to be guided in this by your own constitutional 
peculiarities, as well as by the daily duties of 
your life. Food of some kind, if these require 
much physical exertion, will probably be neces- 
sary at the regular hours to which you haye 
been accustomed, to give you strength properly 
to perform them; but you may be able to change 
the quantity or the quality without suffering in 
health. If your diet is always so simple as to 
admit of little change, there are many ways of 
denying yourself which will bring you the 
benefits of fasting. 



78 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Some to whom the courser pleasures of the 
senses are unknown, have an inordinate fond- 
ness for scientific research, or some one form of 
intellectual pursuit. This is a high and ennob- 
ling taste, but even in this you must sometimes 
deny yourself, remembering the advice of Arch- 
bishop Leighton — "If you would be spiritual, 
healthful and vigorous, and enjoy much of the 
consolation of heaven, be sparing and sober in 
those of earth, and what you abate of the one, 
shall certainly be made up in the other." 

An occasional indulgence in works of fiction 
is to many minds a refreshment, and, where the 
spirit of the book is good, and its tone pure, 
it is harmless. But if it in the least indisposes 
you for more solid reading, you must be careful 
always, lest you injure your taste in this respect. 
Novels should be certainly given up in Lent, 
and the time they would consume be given to 
religious reading. A daily portion from suitable 
books for the season read at your morning 
devotions, you will find a great assistance, such 
as Bishop Huntington's "Helps to a Holy Lent;' 1 
Miss SewelPs "Daily Readings for Lent;" 
"Passing Thoughts on Religion" by the same 



LENT. 79 

author; Dean Goulbourn's, Canon Liddoirs, 
Jeremy Taylor's, Archbishop Leighton's works 
and many others might be mentioned. It is as 
true now as when Chaucer wrote: 

"Out of old fields as men saithe, 

Cometh all this new corn from year to yea**; 

Out of old books in good faithe, 

Cometh all this new science that men lere.'' 

Some rectors are accustomed to recommend 
religious books to their congregations for Lent. 
and themselves read aloud at some of the 
services portions from those they deem most 
edifying. Parish libraries, and also many private 
ones, generally contain a good selection of 
Lenten reading. 

If you live where you have access to plenty 
of books, do not forget your friends who may be 
less fortunate. In remote places, a new book is 
a great treat, and after you have enjoyed a good 
one thoroughly, you might send it to some 
neighbourhood where it would be highly appre- 
ciated and valued. Look over your shelves and 
see if you cannot spare some interesting volume 
to go as a loan or gift on such an errand. If 
you do not know just where to send it. "The 



80 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Church Periodical Club" will tell you. That 
noble society is doing much admirable work in 
supplying literature to Clergy away from cities. 
In a recent visit to California, T heard much of 
the good it was doing in the lonely places of 
that large country. 

"Fasting is called, by the doctors of the 
Church," says Jeremy Taylor, "the nourishment 
of prayer, the wings of the soul, the diet of 
angels, the instruments of humility and self- 
denial, the purification of the spirit.'* St. Basil 
says the paleness of visage consequent upon 
protracted fasts, is the mark on the forehead 
which the angel observed when he signed the 
Saints to escape the wrath of the Lamb. 

If you have young people under your 
direction, or influence, be careful that they lose 
not the benefit of the season of Lent. Endeavour 
to order the family hours so that they will have 
leisure for the services of the Church during 
the week, without interfering with their studies. 
While it is not often advisable for them to fast at 
all, in the strict sense of the word, if they should 
choose to abstain from any favorite article of 



LENT. 81 

food for forty days, the effect will generally be 
beneficial. 

I knew of a large school whose matron 
proposed that all who were willing to give up 
dessert during Lent should sit at particular 
tables, and the money it would cost to provide 
it, should be an Easter offering from the school. 
The few boys who did not agree to do this, sat 
at one table and had the usual allowance of 
delicacies; but the others contributed, through 
the offertory, many dollars to an orphanage, a 
hospital, and the Missionary Society, as the 
fruit of their self-denial. This is a good plan; 
in families and in parishes where it has been 
tried, the offerings largely increase . 

If your Church is in debt, or some improve- 
ment on the building is needed, see if you 
cannot, by additional effort and self-denial, 
increase your alms to remove the debt, or make 
the improvement. Thus, like the devout Cor- 
nelius, your prayers and alms may go up an 
acceptable offering to God. Say as little 
about your effort as possible, and do not attract 
others' attention to them. 



82 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

What may seem a little sacrifice of pleasure, 
ease, luxury, or even comfort in the sight of 
men, may demand constant and prayerful effort 
on the part of the maker. I have never been 
more impressed with the reality of religious 
purpose than by seeing a young man abstain 
from the use of tobacco during the whole of 
Lent. 

While the fumes of the noxious weed 
undoubtedly cloud the mind, unstring the 
nerves and undermine the constitution, yet, 
like other narcotics, it soothes for the time 
and braces the delicate organs it is siowly 
poisoning. Then, too, "the mild-eyed, melan- 
choly lotos-eaters/' deprived of their wonted 
stimulant, are so no longer, but are apt, at first, 
to be fretful, peevish and uncomfortable com- 
panion^ so that religion and philosophy must be 
constantly exerted to restrain the expression of 
the physical and mental discomfort its loss 
occasions; but when once, in the strength of God 
the victory is obtained, the slave is a free man, 
and has risen high in the dignity of created 
beings. 



LENT. S> 

There are few bad habits as tyrannical 

over its votaries as this; and while it pollutes 
the sweet air of heaven, making it offensive and 

sickening, soils the person, the house, the furni- 
ture, and even defiles the books, by a strange 
perversion of truth, young boys think it maul;/ 
to put themselves beneath the yoke of such hii 
unclean habit, and waste their own and others' 
money in procuring the expensive poison. If 
ever one. like the rector of St. Bardolph. longed 
"for a few rich, unctious. fruity words, in the 
deficient Saxon, to give an audible expression 
to — ."well, the rector is perhaps severe, so we will 
say. the emotions excited by such manliness. 
this is one of the occasions. 

In cities, parties, receptions and balls gener- 
ally cease during the Lenten season, and in the 
time thus gained you should have leisure not 
only for increased private and public devotion, 
but works of corporal and spiritual mercy. 
The former are feeding the hungry, giving drink 
to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, redeeming 
captives, visiting the sick, entertaining strangers 
and burying the dead; the latter, teaching the 
ignorant, counseling the doubting, comforting 



84 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

the afflicted, pardoning offenders and praying 
for all estates of men. 

To do these well, you must begin with your 
own heart; try to gain the victory over every 
evil habit, and to cultivate the graces in which 
you are most deficient; "to believe all things, to 
do all things, to suffer all things," which God's 
will appoints us. Confess your sins often to 
Him and join heartily, yet with deep abasement 
of spirit, in the public Confession and Litanies. 

Let "our souls dwell low in the deep valley 
of humility*' that we may come up from the 
wilderness leaning upon the Beloved and bring- 
ing "all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old,"* 
which He has laid up there. You have 
probably learned long since, from rigid self- 
examination, what are the temptations that are 
most likely to assail you, and the sins which 
most easily beset you. Study now to keep a 
stricter watch against them, and pray con- 
stantly that God, by His grace, will enable 
you to overcome them. Say, "I can do all things 
in the might of His Spirit and by the example 
and loving sympathy of our Blessed Lord;'* and 



LENT. 85 

do not be discouraged if at first you seem tc 
make little progress. 

Take some one definite sin, such as anger, 
and strive against it. Many in whom the 
instincts of good breeding are strong, and with 
whom the laws of society are powerful, will 
exercise perfect self-restraint in the presence of 
strangers: but when with their own families, 
allow the anger rising in their hearts to find vent 
in sharp speeches, and bitter, even cruel, words. 
Indeed, the people they love best are often 
selected as the proper victims of their wrath. 
Unrestrained passion is a dangerous thing, and 
the person who indulges in it is on a road that 
leads to insanity and death. 

In the delicate balance of our spiritual, 
mental and physical nature, one heavy weight 
may clog the exquisite machinery, and hopeless 
disorder is the consequence. A medical 
superintendent of one of the largest retreats for 
the insane in this country, said that nine-tenths 
of the patients who came there were insane by 
their own fault, and explained it as the ruin 
that unrestrained indulgence brought into even 
the finest natures. 



86 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

If you have not had the inestimable privilege 
of religious training, and learned self-restraint 
from your infancy, give all the powers of your 
mind to the task now, and resolve that you will 
never do another unkind act, or speak another 
word, under the influence of anger. Those 
short, peevish answers, those quick, sharp retorts, 
those bitter, stinging sarcasms which break up 
the peace of families and societies, can it be 
possible that they come from Christian lips; 
lips that have learned to pray and call the Lord 
of heaven and earth — the God of love — "our 
Father ? ,? Can those fierce passions live in a 
heart that has submitted to the yoke of the 
meek and lowly Jesus, who, amid sorrow 
unutterable, called for forgiveness upon His 
enemies and turned His cheek to the smiter? 

Can the Holy Spirit whose chosen symbol is 
the gentle dove, dwell among such unclean birds 
as are the foul crew begotten by anger, wrath 
and uncharitableness? If you have never 
begun before to cast them out, take this for 
your Lenten w T ork. If there lives a friend whom 
in your anger you have wronged, or by your 
vehemence you have estranged, confess your 



LENT. 87 

fault to that friend and humbly ask for pardon- 
You cannot expect God's blessing on your fast 
and penitence unless you seek the forgiveness 
of those against whom you have sinned. 

Perhaps you may say. "I am not the offender, 
I am justly angry." The Holy God might be 
justly angry with us every day, and yet He 
sent us countless blessings, calls us lovingly to 
come to Him. though our "sins be as scarlet/' and 
sends His Beloved Son. "the ever Blessed Jesus, 
who suffered all the contradictions of sinners, and 
received all affronts and reproaches of malicious, 
rash and foolish persons, and yet. in all of them. 
was as dispassionate and gentle as the morning 
sun in Autumn." 

Faber asks of injuries: 

;, 0h! do you hear that Voice from heaven, 
Forgive and you shall be forgiven? 
Softly on every wind that blows, 
Through the wide earth the promise goes, 
Absolving sin and opening heaven. 
For we forgive and are forgiven." 

Make this, then, the first act of self-denial of 
this solemn season; and when you have asked 
pardon and extended full forgiveness for all 
past injuries, resolve that 

'From this hour we do not know 
The thought, the thing men mean by foe." 



LET TEE VIII. 

SOKEOW. 

God had one Son without sin; He has no son without 
sorrow. St. Augustine. 

Affliction is a divine diet, which, though it be not 
pleasing to mankind, yet Almighty God hath often im- 
posed it as a good, though bitter physic to those children 
whose souls are dearest to Him. Izaac Walton. 

Y Deae L : One of the prophetic 

names of our Blessed Lord is "the Man of 
Sorrows, acquainted with grief;" and can we 
then, the children of God and heirs with Christ, 
expect to escape this, His chosen heritage? 
"Out of the deep," must we continually cry for 
help to Him who has trodden each step of the 
bitter pathway before us. "He Himself bore 
our sins," and the very fact of His immaculate 
purity made the load heavier and the agony of 
the conflict more tremendous. 

It is a blessed privilege to be like Him even 
in suffering, and it is a necessary part of the 
earthly discipline which fits us for the full 



SOKROW. 89 

enjoyment of the society of the redeemed in 
Paradise. 

"If I must win my way to perfectness 

Jn the sad path of suffering, like Him 

The overflowing river of whose life 

Touches the flood-marks of humanity 

On the white pillars of the Heavenly throne, 

Then welcome evil! welcome sickness, toil, 

Sorrow and pain, the fear and fact of death!" 

This is the only spirit in which sorrow should 
be met; and we can. amid our suffering even, 
rejoice that we are called thus to a closer fellow- 
ship with Christ, and can understand a little of 
the weight of woe He bore for us. 

During these days of fasting, it is well to 
think much of this, to study the history of our 
Blessed Lord, and particularly the full record 
given of the last days of His life on earth ; and 
in Passion week that account of when "they 
came to a place which was named Grethsemane 
and He saith to His disciples. ; My soul is 
exceeding sorrowful even unto death.* " The 
weight of that mysterious Agony is beyond our 
power to understand, but it has sanctified all 
suffering; and no matter how deeply we may feel 
that the storms and billows have beat over us- 
there is yet, beyond, a lower depth of anguish 



90 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

consecrated by the blessed steps of the Son of 
God. 

That holy self-restraint which is the mark of 
the Cross upon our hearts and lives, never can 
show itself more plainly than in times of sorrow, 
and we must never forget that we have no 
right to inflict the outward expression of our 
grief upon others, beyond a certain point. The 
spirit of lowdy submission to the Will of God. 
which bows humbly at the foot of the Cross, 
learns there the lesson which that Agony teaches. 
"I was dumb, and opened not My mouth 
because Thou didst it." "Abba, Father, all 
things are possible unto Thee: take away this 
cup from Me; nevertheless not what I will, but 
what Thou wilt.** 

When we thus dwell in the valley of 
humility and lose our w T ill in that of the Holy 
One. there come sweet comfortings and 
strength from above. St Luke writes: "And 
there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, 
strengthening Him.** 

This is the perfect submission we are to 
imitate. Not to question why such sorrow 
should come to us more than to others; why 



SORROW. 91 

our beloved ones are taken from as while others 
less dear, less useful, less tender and true, are 
left: why ill health mars our happiness. destroys 
our usefulness and darkens our days: but to say 
with our Blessed Lord, agonizing in the garden, 
and crushed beneath the load of the world's 
transgression. "Q My Father, if this cup may 
not pass away from Me. except I drink it. Thy 
will be done." 

k, God, Kinsman loved, but not enough, 

Man with eyes Majestic after death. 

Whose feet have toiled along out pathway rough, 
Who6e lips draw human breath; 

"By that one likeness which is ours and Thine. 
By that one nature which doth hold us kin, 
By that high heaven where sinless Thou dost shine. 
To draw us sinners in. 

•'By that last silence in the judgment hall, 
By long foreknowledge of the dreadful tree, 
By darkness, by the wormwood and the gall, 

1 pray Thee, visit me." 

I hope you know this poem of Jean Inge- 
low's: the meaning comes out fnlly in the latter 
verses, and I may weary by quoting more; but 
the idea should be ever present with us. that 
one of the main uses of sorrow is to teach us to 
alleviate that of others, after we have, by self- 
discipline, extracted the sweet from its bitter- 



92 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

ness,and learned how tenderly God's comfortings 
come to His suffering children. 

You will find the daily services of the Church 
a very great solace in your affliction. If you 
live in other people's houses, and. can command 
little solitude, the quiet coolness of the church 
will be most refreshing to soul and spirit. 

It is best in a large city to select some one 
parish for the home of your affections, the 
sphere of your labours, and the centre of your 
charities. 

It is a sort of dissipation to be running from 
one church to another, here attracted by fine 
music, or more elaborate services, or there by 
an unusually good reader or fine preacher. 
These things are all good in their places; but 
do not seek them, too much, or speak of them 
as the all engrossing object of your search. 
God blesses all faithful ministration of His 
Word and Sacraments, and you are much more 
likely to share this blessing while you are in the 
quiet discharge of daily duty, than if you have 
gone far to look for it, leaving these unfulfilled 
behind you. 



SOKKOW. 93 

If you have changed your home and are 
looking about for some particular congregation 
or parish with which to connect yourself, think 
of the claim of the humblest in your neigh- 
bourhood first. Is there no mission or strug- 
gling free church near you. where the coming 
of a new member, with a heart to love the 
sanctuary, and a willingness to spend and to 
be spent in its service, would be welcome? 
If so. do not go miles away to seek a fashionable 
and crowded church, when you might help 
build up one at your doors. It is right to 
make beautiful the sanctuary — the place where 
" Thine Honor dwelleth.'* and we have the 
sanction of His Word and the gracious pleasure 
that He took in such adorning, in the days of 
old. as our own warrant for such an effort; but 
not at the expense of more serious matters. 

Remember, there was a scale of offerings 
provided by the Jewish law; in place of the 
lamb for a burnt offering, the poor woman could 
bring a pair of turtle doves, or two young 
pigeons, as did the Virgin mother of our Blessed 
Lord at His Presentation in the Temple. 
"Whosoever is of a willing mind, let Him bring 



94 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

it an offering of the Lord; gold, silver and brass, 
and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen 
and goat's hair." If God has given you the 
ability, bring of your gold and jewels to adorn the 
sanctuary; but if you are poor, believe that the 
goat's hair and the badger skins, which were 
within the reach of the poorest Israelite, were 
equally acceptable in His sight, who looks at 
the heart as consecrating the gift. 

Do not despise the Lenten services held at 
your humble chapel, and believe that God's 
presence can be as truly in those simple rites, as 
in those where art and music lend their charms to 
deepen their solemnity. The wealth of colouring, 
the soft light stealing in through stained win- 
dows, the pictured story there, the suggestive 
symbols, each telling of the Cross, the glory 
and mystery of the Holy Trinity, or the power 
of the Holy Ghost, are attractive and beautiful. 
Used aright, they become helps to holiness, and 
you should accustom yourself to recognize and 
appreciate their teaching. 

But while thus enjoying them, when you 
can have them, do not allow yourself to consider 
them of so much importance that you pine for 



SORROW. 95 

them when necessarily worshipping where they 
cannot be had. In the humblest temple, accep- 
table worship can go up to Him who dwelleth 
not alone in temples made with hands. Think 
of Solomon's words at the dedication of that 
magnificent temple for the "Congregation of 
Israel:"* "And he stood before the altar of the 
Lord . . . and kneeled down upon his 
knees . . . and said. But will God in very 
deed dwell with men on earth? Behold heaven 
and earth cannot contain Thee; how much less 
this house which I have built?" 

In many large cities you have much liberty 
m selecting a church, unless ties of duty should 
call you strongly to some particular congrega- 
tion. The cross-tipped spires point out God's 
temples within a few blocks of each other in the 
upper neighborhood of the Atlantic cities, and 
you need not go far to choose. The primitive 
rule was the nearest parish church, and I think 
it is well to keep to it still, if the Book of 
Common Prayer is closely followed in the Daily 
Offices. Nothing can make up for the loss of 
the form of sound words, consecrated by the 



96 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

pious breathings of the devout children of the 
Church in all ages. 

Having selected your place of worship, you 
are now to enter upon the duty to which God 
calls you there, and give freely of your time, 
thought, money and influence, to promote its 
best interests. Let these be willing offerings, 
tendered cheerfully and unasked as unto the 
Lord. 

'•So shalt thou find in work and thought 

The peace that sorrow cannot give; 
Though griefs worst pangg to thee be taught, 

By thee let others nobler live." 

In these scattered hints, I cannot dwell 
upon the deep things of the spirit; you find 
them in your Bible, in the teachings of the 
Church, and in the lives of the Saints of old. 
It is well to study faithfully all these records. 
The Saints all "confessed that they were stran- 
gers and pilgrims on the earth, declared plainly 
that they sought a country, a better country, 
that is, a heavenly, " and in all their trials "of 
cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, 
of bonds and imprisonment,'' they were joyful 
through faith, patient in hope and found "the 
peaceable fruit of righteousness." 



SORROW. 97 

The promise is to us even as to them, and if 
we exercise the same holy faith and patience 
we shall, like them, receive the same blessed 
reward. 

'•Happy are they that team in Him 

How patient sufferings teach 
The secret of enduring strength. 

And praise too deep for speech; 
Peace that no pressure from without. 

No strife within can reach." 

"Sorrows are the pulses of spiritual life : after 
each beat we pause only that we may gather 
strength for the next;"' and all sorrow, unless 
sanctified by prayer and consecrated to Him 
who in His wisdom sent us the hidden blessing- 
hardens the heart and unfits us for Christian 
duty. The temptation comes to us to doubt 
God's tenderness and love, to repine at His 
chastenings, and question His wisdom. 

Do not attempt to reason with this device of 
the adversary of souls, but pray continually 
against it. If you have accustomed yourself to 
daily self-denial, to unquestioning obedience, 
and quiet faithfulness in the duties appointed 
you. you will find them of inestimable service in 
such a time of sorrow. In the hush of earth's 
voices, you can better listen to those that speak 



98 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

from heaven; and you will tread softly, as if in 
the cool shade of some dim forest, where the 
noise and tumult of life is heard only from afar. 

Let your own suffering teach you constant 
tenderness and sympathy with all who suffer in 
"mind, body or estate." You have been able 
to mitigate the pain of your loved ones by the 
thousand devices that medical skill, art, luxury 
and affection, have invented. Their dying- 
pillows were soothed by the presence of the 
appointed minister of God, whose voice pierced 
the stillness of the shadow of death beginning 
to shroud the senses, and told them of a light 
in the dark valley, of the washing in the blood 
of the Immaculate Lamb that was slain to take 
away the sins of the world, and commended their 
souls into the Hands of a faithful Creator. 

But thousands are dying without these 
blessings. LTnsoothed, untended and uncared 
for, they wrestle with the death agony, and no 
voice tells them that it may be a prelude to joys 
immortal. Forget not these, and help all hospi- 
tals and infirmaries within reach of your 
benefactions, in thankful remembrance of your 
loved departed ones who are sleeping in Jesus. 






SORROW. 99 

Perhaps the last tie that binds you to the 
home of your childhood has been broken, ami 
you say in your sorrow there is no earthly one 
now left to you. But you can make a home 
wherever you may be; and while patting on the 
robes of righteousness that will alone fit you for 
heavenly habitations, see if you cannot bring 
light into other houses. Perhaps the tender 
ministration of an infirmary your charity aids in 
supporting, will drive away the death angel 
from some family whom his presence was 
threatening, and the light of an humble home 
may be saved to them a little longer. 

Remember to be "fervent in prayer" at the 
parts of the public service of the Church where 
"all sick persons and young children.** "all that 
are desolate and oppressed" are particularly 
mentioned. In some congregations where the 
prayers of the faithful are desired for chronic 
invalids, it is customary to make a slight pause 
at these clauses, and minister and people say 
softly to themselves the names of those whom 
they thus remember. Try to realize the blessings 
that come from Heaven in answer to prayer; 
drive away all doubts as to its efficiency from its 



100 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

conflict with the laws of nature, by the suTe 
Word of the God of Nature. 

"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall 
find, knock and it shall be opened unto you/* 
Our blessed Lord repelled the temptation of the 
devil by the pure Word of God; and following 
His Holy example, you must crush each rising 
doubt by a — "thus saith the Lord, 1 ' from the 
Book He has left us. 

The heathen recognized the uses of sorrow 
in refining and purifying the mind, and teaching 
true wisdom. Many striking passages might be 
quoted from their writings to illustrate this. 
Seneca says: "He that never was acquainted 
with adversity, has seen the world but on one 
side, and is ignorant of half the scenes of 
nature." And Goethe, the greatest of modern 
pagans, writes: 

"Who ne'er ate the bread of sorrow, 

Who ne'er passed the darksome hour, 

Weeping and watching for to-morrow; 
He knows ye not, ye heavenly power. " 

But our Christian poet, the saintly Keble, 
gives the keynote to right thinking when he 
says: 



SORROW. 101 



"From darkness and dreariness 

We ask not full repose, 
Only be Thou at hand to bless 

Our trial hour of woes. 

"Is not the pilgri m ' s toil > er paid 
By the clear riJl and palnily shade, 

And see we^not up earth's dark glade 
The gates of heaven unclose?" 



LETTER IX. 

THE MOTHERS" MISSION. 

"Let us reach into our bosoms 
For the key to others' lives, 
And with love towards erring nature, 
Cherish good that still survives." 

JT is generally thought best that some of the 
most experienced Christians in the congre- 
gation should have charge of that most important 
branch of Church work — the Mothers' Mission. 
But in the good providence of God you may be 
placed where the services of such are not 
available, and I think you should not shrink 
from the task if you have the approval of your 
rector. While older persons may be in charge 
of the religious services of the mission, the 
strength and enthusiasm of younger people may 
well be enlisted in visiting members in their 
homes, looking up the absentees, and, perhaps, 
finding new persons who may be glad to join. 



THE mothers' mission. 103 

I think that it is much better for the lady 
associates to be all communicants of the same 
parish, while the women, whom they teach, may 
be gathered in anywhere. Except in our larger 
cities, there are few towns where it is not safe 
for a lady of ordinary discretion and judgment 
to visit any neighborhood among the poor, and 
when the older ladies have explored it. they may 
safely share the duty with younger persons. 

If you ever have an opportunity, study the 
way in which our sisterhoods are working in 
larger cities. "The Bishop Potter Memorial 
House" was formany years the favorite tie Id of 
work of that large-hearted layman. William 
Welsh, whose praise is in all the churches, and 
whose loss, when stricken down in the midst of 
his usefulness, we all lament. Christian women 
were trained there to work in the parish, the 
hospital, and the missionary field, and faithful 
labourers are showing how well this training was 
adapted to our present needs by successful work 
in different dioceses, and missionary juris- 
dictions. 

Under the judicious oversight of one, who. 
more fully, perhaps, than any living man in 



104 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

America, knew and felt for the wants of the 
poor, a neighborhood was selected for the sisters, 
in which to begin their missions. These were 
often in the manufacturing districts near the 
Memorial House. Every tenement was visited, 
and a list made of its inmates, w T ith notes of their 
character and circumstances. The women were 
invited to join the Mothers' Mission, the men, 
the Bible classes, and the children, the Sunday 
School. This is called canvassing, and is the 
only way in which the needs of a district can be 
fully known. Subsequent visits are, of course, 
made, and arrangements perfected for procuring 
a suitable room for holding the Mission, and the 
Bible class, and the services of the Church. 

In these manufacturing centres so many of 
the women are employed during the day in 
mills, that night is the only convenient time for 
them to meet. Perhaps it will be more practical 
to describe the Mothers' Mission conducted by 
one of these sisters in All Saints' parish. It 
was held in a large room in the parish building, 
used for a Bible class on Sundays, for Mission- 
ary and Dorcas societies, and for the instruction 
given for Sunday School teachers every Monday 



THE MOTHERS 1 MISSION. 105 

night upon the next lesson. Tuesday evening 
at 7 :00 o'clock, the mothers met in this pleasant 
room, well warmed and brightly lighted, and 
hung about with framed texts of Scripture and 
pictures. A large table occupied the centre of 
the room upon which the work and books were 
placed. The librarian was generally in attend- 
ance for a few moments before the time of 
opening, and exchanged and marked off the 
books. As the clock struck the hour, the bell 
sounded, the doors were locked, and the opening 
services began . 

Where only a single room is placed at the 
disposal of the mission, it would hardly be well to 
lock the doors and expose its members to the 
inclemency of the weather. Attendance upon a 
sick person, or an infant, will sometimes make 
perfect punctuality impossible for very poor 
people, though it is astonishing when they have 
learned, as they do quickly, to prize the religious 
services, how very rarely they fail of being in 
their places when the bell strikes. At All Saints' 
they could wait in the parish school rooms 
which were upon the same floor, and warm. 



106 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

The librarian played upon the melodeon, 
and some of the pleasant hymns from the 
Hymnal were great favourites with the women. 
As many of the members of the mission were 
English ? Welsh, Irish and German, they were 
often unable to read, and it was necessary to 
teach them the hymns by repeating them orally, 
in concert, three or four times before beginning 
to sing them. It is better to do this in most 
cases, for persons, whose early education has 
been neglected, read so very imperfectly that it 
is doubtful if they catch much of the meaning 
of the lines they so painfully endeavor to spell 
out. 

If both the tune and the words of the hymn 
are new to the members of the mission, it is well 
to sing it over to them once before beginning 
the devotional exercises. Those who have a 
good ear for music will readily catch the tunes, 
and for the others you might have a short 
singing lesson at the close of the mission. 
After the hymn, use the Collect for the week 
and, the season. In Lent, what is called the 
Lesser Litany may be an appropriate portion of 
your prayers. Always decide upon what 



THE MOTHEES* MISSION. 107 

Collect from the Prayer Book you will use 
beforehand, and if you have not a printed form 
taken from the books of directions for Mothers' 
Missions, write one out yourself by the advice 
and guidance of your rector. 

"Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, oh 
Lord/* and "Direct us in all our doings," with 
the Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent, 
are appropriate at all times. I copy a prayer 
that was used in a successful Mothers* Mission, 
which may be of use to you: 

"Oh Almighty God, the Father and Saviour 
of all men, help us, we beseech Thee, to behave 
with Christian charity and wisdom to all that 
are in distress, poverty or suffering. Let none 
of us come under Thy condemnation on the 
great day of judgment, for want of mercy or 
charity to our brethren, who in this world of 
trial, were hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, 
or in prison, and to whom, when we had the 
power, we did not minister. Help us to deny our- 
selves, that we may, each in our measure, have to 
give to them that need; and that we may ever 
work, with Thee and for Thee in diminishing 
the sorrows, the miseries, and the sins, of this 



108 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

evil world, for the sake of Him who suffered and 
died for all, Thy blessed Son. our Saviour, 
Jesus Christ. Amen." 

Be particular that each one joins in the 
Lord's Prayer in an audible voice, and also in 
repeating the Creed. If you find that any of 
the members of the mission do not know the 
Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten 
Commandments, it is well to teach them to 
repeat them in unison. And after they are 
thoroughly taught, use the former at every 
meeting of the mission, and the commandments 
as often as once a month. 

Do not forget that grown persons are often 
as ignorant as little children of the first princi- 
ples of religious truth, and need as much 
careful and constant teaching. The same rules 
that apply to teaching in Sunday School must 
come into use here. You will need to pray for 
God's help and His wisdom to fit you for the 
task. The direction of Ignatius Loyola in the 
Spiritual Exercises comes into use in every 
possible branch of Christian service. ''Let us 
pray as if we had no help in ourselves; let us 



THE MOTHEES* MISSION. 109 

labour as if there were no help for us in 
Heaven." Nothing is blest without prayer, but 
nothing comes without labour. If you are to 
succeed in anything, it will never be by wishing 
for it. but by patient, prayerful, constant, 
earnest and uncomplaining working for the 
desired object. 

In selecting the portion of Scripture for 
reading and explanation, after the prayers of 
the mission have been said, it is thought best 
always to have one of the Psalms. If you have 
considerable musical ability, or can obtain the 
assistance of any young person who has. it will 
be easy to teach the women to chant some 
simple strain, which you can vary with the 
season of the Christian year. Thus in Lent 
you can sing or say the "De Profundis"' to a 
plaintive measure, and at Easter-tide the 
anthem for the day — "Christ being raised from 
the dead, dieth no more," etc. The "Venite^ 
the "Jubilate." the "Benedict us" and others 
from the Church service will be suitable at other 
seasons. 

The Gospel for the coming week is generally 
selected for the New Testament lesson, and as 



110 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

one of the objects of the mission is to interest 
its members in the service of the Church, it is 
well to explain the why, and wherefore, of much 
that is strange to them. You will need to 
carefully study the Gospel, as well as the 
appointed lessons for the day. to draw out their 
full meaning. Consult the best Church writers 
whose works you can procure, and make a 
careful abstract of their teaching, being- 
particular to clothe it in simple language. 
Never trust to the thought of the moment, 
though you may have the gift of fluent speech; 
write out beforehand your little exposition, even 
if you do not use all of it. It requires much 
greater gifts of taste, talent, and culture, and 
the higher acquirements of profound wisdom, 
knowledge and broad experience than ordinary 
persons are likely to possess, to make unpre- 
meditated teaching agreeable or profitable. But 
while you have the written page before you, 
learn the art of reading without seeming to read. 
This comes only from earnest study and 
constant practice. 

After the exposition of the Gospel, read 
some short story, and when the women are 






THE MOTHERS* MISSION. Ill 

trained to listen, a chapter from some good book, 
such as "Bedes Charity." "Jessica's Prayer," 
and "Alone in London." 

Let the religious exercises occupy about an 
hour, and then have the sewing produced. At 
first, they might bring their own mending, and 
you might teach them the best way of repairing 
their clothes. After that, simple garments for 
their children. Once a month the sewing 
should be for some charitable purpose, such as 
a neighbor who is ill. or unusually poor, one 
who may hare had her clothing destroyed, or 
for the missionary box that the parish is 
making up. Encourage conversation, but not 
gossip, during the sewing. If there is a 
tendency to this, read for a few minutes, or if 
they are deeply interested in the story, for a 
longer time. Close punctually by singing a 
hymn at 9:00 o'clock. 



LETTER X. 

THE SEWING SCHOOL. 

fERHAPS a description of an ordinary 
sewing school connected with a parish in 

B may serve the purpose of your South 

Carolina correspondent. 

This was held for two hours every Saturday 
afternoon, and had a lady superintendent, with 
her assistant and other teachers, each of the 
latter having about eight girls under her charge. 
The school was opened at the appointed hour 
by the singing of a hymn and reciting the 
Creed before the short prayers. Then the 
hands of each girl were held up for inspection 
to the superintendent, or her assistant, who 
divided the school between them for this pur- 
pose. All whose cleanliness was doubtful, were 
sent into an adjoining room, where basins were 
provided, and one of the teachers directed their 
use. 



SEWING SCHOOL. 113 

Bags were made the first thing, by each 
scholar, for their own use. to contain their 
thimble, needle-book, cotton and work, and 
marked with their names. Next, a large apron 
was made, to be worn during the sewing hours, 
and afterward put away in the bag. The schol- 
ars were classified, generally, according to their 
knowledge of sewing previously, and as they 
advanced they were promoted to the higher 
classes. 

Button holes were considered the most diffi- 
cult work, and some small premium was offered 
at the close of the school for the best executed 
set. A premium of a silver thimble was given 
each year for the best made garment, or for the 
greatest improvement in sewing. 

When a school is first organized, and all are 
learners, the whole attention will have to be 
given to the needful directions for the work, 
but after the scholars have learned to hem 
fairly, and are engaged upon simpler portions of 
the garments, the superintendent might read a 
little story or talk to the children about their 
home duties. The utmost neatness in regard to 



114 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

their work must be insisted upon, and faithful- 
ness in finishing off every part; while habits of 
order can be taught, by teaching them how to 
fold up the materials and work before putting 
them away at the close of the school. 

After the rudiments of sewing are taught, it 
is well to begin a garment which will bring 
them all into use, and it is an incentive to 
industry to tell them what use is to be made of 
the finished garment. In very poor communi- 
ties they may need it greatly themselves, or for 
a smaller child at home; but when this is not 
the case, the garment might be given to the 
missionary box of the parish, or to some case of 
destitution within its limits. After an hour's 
sewing, the work was put away and one of the 
ladies taught the children chants and hymns 
for the Sunday School and Church. 

It is well always to draw out all the musical 
talent in a congregation, and make it available 
for use in the services of the sanctuary; and to 
do this, it is better always to select the same 
hymns for the children's use as are used in the 
church. Their sweet voices will then be a 
ready substitute for the ordinary choir when 



SEWING SCHOOL. 115 

circumstances prevent them from leading the 
musical portions of the service. 

Darning stockings is a useful art, and 
donations of partly worn clothing might be 
solicited from the congregation for experiments 
in the sewing school. The homely proverb. "A 
stitch in time saves nine." cannot be too much 
insisted upon. A great deal of the poverty in 
many places comes from the want of care and 
thrift in the use of money, often earned by hard 
labor. It is astonishing how much poor people 
waste, and if you can teach their children 
habits of economy and industry, you will have 
done much toward elevating them above the 
want which carelessness, sloth and improvidence, 
have brought upon the parents. 

Be patient, gentle, loving and wise in your 
teaching; and though you may not see the fruit 
of your own labor, it may bless some happy 
home many years hence. Try and enlist all 
of the young ladies whose home duties do 
not interfere with their helping in the school. 
If you find them competent, your task will be 
lightened by their help; but if they are ignorant, 
careless, and unpunctual. the school will be 



116 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

better without their services. If you have 
many scholars you can allow very little talking, 
or the confusion will be unpleasant and distract 
your own and the children's attention from 
their work. 

It is important to recollect that most good 
things grow, and cannot be ready made; so if 
you are patient, a great deal can come from an 
humble, unpretending beginning. 






LETTER XI 



VISITING THE POOR 



lOUBTLESS you have often noticed the 
tendency of some minds to be frightened 
by a stern fact, and shrink from investigating 
the details. Thus, statistics state that six- 
sevenths of all the inhabitants of London are 
supported by the remaining seventh. When 
you attempt to grapple with poverty in such 
alarming proportions, you falter at the prospect, 
and in dismay think it hopeless to do anything. 
Loving hearts are guiding wise heads to solve 
this mighty problem — one of the most difficult 
for the trials of our faith — and careful study is 
given to efforts for ameliorating the condition of 
the poor. Employment societies are taking the 
place of the old, indiscriminate relief granted to 
every applicant as long as the funds of the 
benefactor lasted; and each year additional 
light is thrown upon the answer to that most 



118 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

important question, how can we best relieve the 
wants of the poor without lowering their self- 
respect, or training up a generation of paupers? 

It is the part of humility to accept all wise 
and faithful teaching, and to treasure the lessons 
experience brings. "Love, and do what thou 
wilt," says St. Augustine, and if you love poor 
people you cannot help being an acceptable 
visitor to them in their homes. It is always 
better to work as part of a well ordered parish ; 
and if you have a list given you of families 
whom it is your especial province to look after, 
your duty is much simplified. 

This is no abstract case that need trouble 

you, but that of Mrs. A- who lives in the 

next street, is a communicant of the same 
church, has her children, perhaps, in your class 
in the Sunday or sewing school, and belongs to 
the Mothers* Mission. You visit her and find 
that she has a large family, and life is a hard 
struggle. Dirt and disorder reign in the poor 
cottage she calls home; she has a weary, care- 
worn face, and the children a pale, withered look 
as if wholesome food was strange to them. The 
husband has occasional work, but w T astes his 






VISITING THE POOR. 119 

money in rum and tobacco. Your heart sinks 
as. upon opening the door, the smoke, discomfort, 
untidiness and disorder which rule within meet 
your eyes. It is your first visit, and a stranger 
in such quarters is looked upon somewhat 
suspiciously. Much good judgment is needed 
not to seem to notice the confusion that your 
entrance produces: and it is well to observe, 
particularly, then, all the rules that good breed- 
ing inculcates in visiting among friends of your 
own social standing. 

Who are the people whom every one wel- 
comes to their houses, whose visits are looked 
forward to with interest by each member of the 
family? Those whose warm hearts overflow 
with love and sympathy for others, and who 
manifest, in a thousand little ways, their kindly 
sympathy for the welfare and comfort of their 
friends. Just such persons meet with cordial 
welcome in the houses of the poor. The children 

will shout with joy if they see Miss B 's face 

turning the corner of the street, and run forward 
joyfully to announce her approach. The weary 
mother feels a ray of joy stealing into her 
heart, as she hears the step of a true friend. 



120 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

If you inquire of Miss B how she secured 

this affection and confidence, she may not 
recognize the happy secret, that it was love 
which secured love; but she would probably tell 

you how sorry she felt for poor Mrs. A , who 

had such a struggle to get along with her large 
family, and you could see that she loved them, 
sympathized with them, and was constantly 
thinking how she could bring a little lightness 
into dark, cold lives. Poverty is a cruel thing, 
and only the grace of God can prevent it from 
blunting the sensibilities and perverting the 
moral sense. The two things which the wise 
Agur asked of the Lord, we also require: "Deny 
me them not before I die. Remove far from 
me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty 
nor riches; feed me with food convenient for 
me, lest I be full and deny Thee, and say. who 
is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and 
take the Name of my God in vain." 

Find out the hours when it is most conveni- 
ent for you to call upon your humble friends, and 
be careful not to interfere with their meals or 
morning's duties. If you cannot remember the 
details of each family on your list, it is well to 






VISITING THE POOR. 121 

keep a little note book of them and a record of 
each visit you pay them. See that the interval 
between your visits is not too long, and if your 
time is well filled up with other duties, take 
only a few names. Win confidence so that they 
will tell you of their joys and sorrows, their 
losses and needs, without your appearing to pry 
into their affairs. When this is gained you will 
be able to help them in many ways, and suggest 
improvements in their household arrangements 
without seeming to officiously interfere. 

If you miss the mother from church, or the 
children from the school, be particular to go 
immediately to inquire the reason. Serious 
illness may be prevented by timely relief, and 
the presence of a judicious friend is doubly 
welcome in sickness. Find out what is most 
needed in such cases, and endeavor to supply 
the need. Some Mothers' Missions keep a 
chest of household linen and clothing, to lend to 
their sick members in case of illness when the 
demand is greater than poor people can meet. 
Double wrappers, flannel jackets, blankets, 
quilts, sheets, pillow cases, towels, and under- 
clothing are made up by the congregation and 
kept for this purpose. 



122 A LIFE OF SEKVICE/ 

Infants* wardrobes are prepared, and gifts 
are often received from families whose children 
have died, to be loaned to poor mothers. See 
that each article is carefully washed before it 
is returned to the closet or shelf, and that no 
infectious disease has been in the family using 
them. 

Notice the books and papers that may be 
lying about where you visit, and try to change 
a bad class of literature for a better. Some 
persons have a great regard for anything that 
is printed; and a parish visitor was once told 
quite indignantly, when she asked where the 
peculiar name of one of her Sunday School 
scholars originated; "Why, I got it out of a book ; 
did you never hear of Alawinda, the female 
pirate?" Many girls, in humble life, take the 
first step in the downward path from reading 
such books, and the destroyer of souls has no 
more active agents than those who write and 
circulate them. 

Be careful to report to the rector of the 
parish cases of serious illness among the poor 
communicants committed to your charge. It 
is impossible for him to be informed of such 



VISITING THE POOK. 123 

things intuitively: and yet you hear persons say. 
k, I have been ill for weeks and the rector has 
not been near the house." when they have taken 
no means to inform him of the fact. In 
protracted sickness it is often necessary to give 
a weekly allowance from the communion alms: 
and where you are known and loved you may 
advise upon the best ways of expending this 
sacred trust. 

Cultivate a gentle, tender, quiet and respect- 
ful manner in speaking to poor people. Avoid 
all bustling, impetuous ways of rushing into their 
homes, and out again, before they have regained 
their composure. Good judgment, guided by 
experience, will teach you to exercise true 
charity, and 

"The heart at leisure from itself 
To soothe and sympathize.'' 

is a constant suggestion of ways and means to 
do faithful service to God's poor. "Inasmuch 
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these. 
ye have done it unto Me.*' 



LETTER XII 



ALMSGIVING. 



fUBLIC sentiment occasionally becomes 
aroused in right trains of thought; and 
recently Christian people seem to be awaking to 
more correct views upon the great subject of stim- 
ulating and directing the gifts of the faithful. 
After trying many plans, which, for a time, are 
partially successful, but soon fall away, much 
inquiry is being made as to God's plan — the 
giving of tithes for the support of His worship, 
the teaching of His children, feeding His poor, 
beautifying His sanctuary, and spreading abroad 
His Gospel in the great fields of heathen dark- 
ness and superstition. 

Do you realize how much of their substance 
the Jews were commanded to give to the service 
of God? Abraham, the father of the faithful, 
when met by Melchisedec, priest of the Most 
High God, gave him a "tenth part of all;" and 



ALMSGIVING. 125 

Jacob, his grandson, made a vow. after his 
wonderful dream at Bethel, when he set up a 
stone there to be God's altar, and said. "Of all 
that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the 
tenth unto Thee." 

When His children had escaped from Egyp- 
tian bondage, and were encamped in the wilder- 
ness about Mt. Sinai. God "called Moses up to 
the top of the mount*' and gave him, amid 
circumstances of the utmost solemnity and 
grandeur, the Holy Commandments for their 
guidance, and minute directions for His worship 
and their separation from the surrounding 
heathen. 

"And the sight of the glory of the Lord was 
like devouring fire on the top of the mount. . . . 
and Moses went into the midst of the cloud. . . . 
and was in the mount forty days and forty 
nights." The first directions were concerning 
the offerings for the tabernacle; ,; of every man 
that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall 
take my offering: and this is the offering which 
ye shall take of them, gold, and silver, and brass, 
and blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen .... oil for 
light, spices for anointing oiL and for sweet 



126 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

incense, onyx stones, and stones to set in the 

Ephod and let them make Me a Sanctuary, 

that I may dwell among them." 

Thus most careful provision was made from 
the best and most costly stores, of willing 
offerings for making the adornment and con- 
struction of a resting place for the Mighty 
Lord, who had brought them out of Egypt to be 
a peculiar people to Himself. For the mainten- 
ance of the priests who ministered in this 
sanctuary, the Jew gave his first fruits, about 
the fiftieth of all his grain. .Forty-eight cities 
were set aside for the tribe of Levi, and thirteen 
for the priests, about four thousand acres in all, 
and the tithe of everything was given for their 
support. A second tithe was given especially 
for the priests and Levites at Jerusalem, which 
might be carried there at the time of the yearly 
pilgrimages in kind, or, if in money, one-fifth 
of its value was to be added. 

There were, besides, ten kinds of offerings — 
weekly, monthly, yearly, and on special occa- 
sions. The salary of the priests w r as the portion 
of sacrifices reserved from the altar, the first 
fruit of the crops, everything devoted to the 



ALMSGIVING. 127 

Lord, the firstlings of all cattle, the first fleece 
of all sheep, the redemption money of the first 
born, a tenth of the Levites' tithes, a fifth of 
the trespass offerings, and a fourth of the fruit 
of all planted trees. Thus about a fourth part 
of the property of every Jew was given to the 
Lord. 

The scribes and Pharisees, in the days of our 
blessed Lord, followed every precept of this law; 
they fasted twice a week, and gave tithes of all 
they possessed; and our righteousness. He told 
us. must exceed theirs. Does it equal it now? 
The law was "a shadow of good things to come;" 
do we. who have entered fully into the enjoyment 
of the substance, show our gratitude by larger 
offerings than those of the Jews? 

The Mighty Lord we worship is the same 
yesterday, to-day. and forever, and the things 
that pleased Him in the days of the patriarchs 
and prophets, please Him now. To reverence His 
Sanctuary, to make glorious the earthly house 
of His abode, to care for His priests, to relieve 
His poor, and then to bring free-will offerings 
when we seek His courts, is as acceptable now. 



128 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

&s in the days of the ''open vision*' of the seventy 
elders of Israel. 

But. you may say, "I am poor, I have very 
little money, how can I do these things ?" The 
silver and the gold belong to the Lord, and the 
cattle upon a thousand hills. He giveth, or 
withholdeth, as seemeth good in His sight, and 
in everything that befalls, the highest good of 
His faithful children is promoted. "If thou 
hast little, do thy diligence gladly to give of that 
little,*' and do it systematically, according to 
God's commandment. 

The original meaning of the word religion is 
rule; and if you w T ish to lead a religious life, a 
life of true service to God and man, you must 
order it by the rule of God's law. The tenth 
part of your substance is the very least this law 
demands, and you should be as faithful and rigid 
in paying God's part as you would a debt to your 
fellow man. To do this you must be careful in 
your expenditure, and, whatever your income 
may be. never live fully up to it. Take out God "s 
portion first, and ask His help and guidance in 
wisely disposing of the remainder. 

If this simple rule were followed, the treasury 



ALMSGIVING. 129 

of the Lord would be full to overflowing, and 
His Church would "arise and shine."' Every- 
where the field seems ripe for harvest, but the 
reaper must stay his hand, because the inhabi- 
tants of Meroz are greatly increased, and they 
come "not to the help of the Lord, to the help 
of the Lord against the mighty. 5 ' 

Knowing how carefully you have been 
taught reverence, and how T instinctively a heart 
touched by the Spirit of God cherishes it, I 
need only warn you to endeavor to preserve it 
wherever your lot is cast. Some communities 
have a habit that, to devout minds, seems 
shockingly irreverent; they speak of the offer- 
ings made in God's house as if they were 
extorted by men, whisper and laugh while they 
are gathered, and, giving nothing themselves, 
seem to consider it an amusing joke that others 
should believe it not only a duty, but a pleasure, 
to bring an offering whenever they enter the 
courts of the Lord. 

I do not know that it is even well to speak 
of these things to the guilty persons unless they 
are young enough for you to have authority to 
teach them. A clergyman can do a great deal 



130 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

by explaining God's plan, and by throwing as 
much reverence into the reading of the offer- 
tory sentences as their solemn import demands; 
and if the children in the Sunday School are 
rightly taught, they may remember it in after 
years. Most thoughtful parents, above the ranks 
of the extremely poor, give their children some 
weekly or monthly allowance, that they can spend 
as they please. Urge your scholars to keep, 
regularly, the tenth of this as the Lord's part. 
It is His blessing alone that maketh rich and 
addeth no sorrow thereto, and faithful obedience 
to His laws always brings this. 

The early fathers of the Church taught that 
one-tenth of the income, and one-seventh of 
our time, was the least of God's requirement, 
and for fifteen hundred years this was the 
universal rule. What prosperity would bless 
our land and Church if we were to return to 
this happy obedience, and no longer rob God 
of His tithes and offerings! Then might the 
dark waters of financial ruin and national 
disgrace, which seem ready to engulph us, be 
rolled back, and the Lord give His people the 
blessing of peace. 



LETTER XIII 

CULTURE. 

What are the aims which are at the same time duties 
in life? The perfecting of ourselves and the happiness of 
others. Jean Paul. 

For some men think that the gratification of curiosity 
is the end of knowledge; some the necessity of supporting 
themselves by their knowledge; but the real use of all 
knowledge is this: that we should dedicate that reason 
which was given us by God to the use and advantage of 
men. Lord Bacon. 

17EW things are more needless than discus- 
- sion as to the relative strength of mind 
given to men and women. The Scriptures give, 
everywhere, preeminence to man and teach that 
woman's manifest inferiority is part of the 
punishment our first mother drew upon her 
daughters by yielding to the temptation in 
the garden. She "said that the tree was good 
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, 
and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she 
took of the fruit thereof, did eat, and gave also 



132 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

unto her husband with her." The same short- 
sightedness and refusal to look beyond the 
immediate consequences of disobedience has 
distinguished many of Eve's descendants. 

The great thinkers, the explorers, the pio- 
neers in the path of thought, the painters who 
can move the being to its hidden depths and 
make the lifeless canvas speak of joy, revenge 
and eternity, have been men. Who formed the 
perfect beauty of the Parthenon and hung aloft 
the mighty dome of St. Peter's, where all men 
go to wonder and worship? Even as they kneel 
at the shrine of the Omnipotent One there, they 
must mingle with their thoughts of the majesty 
of the Creator, those of the magic power He 
gave to the mighty genius of the Buonarrotti. 

Who are the poets, the great master-singers, 
whose songs have come down to us along the 
track of ages, whose thoughts that breathe and 
words that burn, "haunt us as eagles do the 
mountain air?" And whose hands strike with 
mystic power the chords of music until the 
sweet, sad, passionate melody rings through all 
space? Man — "the heir of all ages, in the 
foremost files of time." 



CULTURE, 133 

Because men can never be angels, does it 
keep them from rising to the height of their 
being and cultivating to the utmost the high 
powers God has given them? And so every 
woman, in her proper sphere, can draw all the 
latent strength of her nature out by true, 
dutiful and patient culture. 

You had, under the judicious oversight of 
faithful parents, the inestimable benefit of a 
careful, early education; and because now you 
hope to give yourself up more fully than family 
duty has before allowed to the service of God 
and His Church, do not think you must neglect 
opportunities for self-inrprovement and mental 
culture. Try and secure an hour or two daily 
for faithful study, either of the languages, 
mathematics, or some of the sciences. Plain 
sewing enters largely into the lives of most 
women, unless they are wealthy. Try and 
make it less uninteresting by keeping a book 
open before you and study while you sew. I 
have seen Hebrew and German grammars 
propped against the sewing machine, and the 
seam was no less beautiful, because the operator 
at the same time learned a conjugation, or had 



134 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

light thrown upon a disputed reading of a 
well-known text. 

Where you have many subjects for anxious 
thought — as you will constantly for the welfare 
of others — learn to put them aside for awhile 
and find rest and refreshment in a good book. 
Study history, and learn the great facts of 
humanity in all their thousand modifications in 
the story of the past. Try to rend the veil 
which poetry, passion, and partisan prejudice 
and pride have thrown over many events, and 
read them in their true signification by the light 
of the teaching of God's Word, and the revelation 
of His plan in the record. Classify your 
kno.wledge and endeavor to add to it constantly. 
Truth is a boundless ocean, and, as Sir Isaac 
Newton said, "we can but pick up a pebble or 
two along the shore. v 

But the fair stones are very precious to the 
fortunate finder; the search is ennobling, and 
the powers of the mind develop daily with their 
use. Take the measure of your own mind, 
gauge its capabilities, learn its weaknesses, and 
find in what points it most needs strengthening. 
If your feelings are keen, your imagination 



CULTURE. 135 

active, and natural sensibilities quick to respond 
to the touch of the beautiful, you will find in 
study, discipline, food, and training. 

Take some one era in history and read all 
you can find to throw light upon its characters. 
Divest yourself of any bias your early teachers 
or reading may have given you. and study with 
clear, truth-seeking eyes. Do not dethrone your 
childish heroes, because later days will show 
you that they, like all men. had their weak spots 
and limitations, and be willing to allow that the 
Luthers and Cromwells. and even the Henry 
VIII's. had their noble points, and helped 
us to many of the blessings of the freedom we 
now enjoy. 

If you are obliged to wait for unpunctual 
people, as is often the case when engagements 
take you much with others, try and use up the 
fragments of time by having a book at hand, and 
study and read a little. Beside the real gain all 
new ideas afford, it is good for the temper, and 
prevents impatience or fretting over the deten- 
tion. Be careful not to become so absorbed in 
the study as to forget the duty at hand, and in 
pondering over the needs of the past, neglect 



136 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

the pressing call of the present day and hour. 
An abstracted, pre-occupied manner is a great 
barrier to usefulness, and it is well to be always 
ready to lay aside any subject of thought, 
however engrossing or interesting, to attend to 
the little wants, wishes, or sorrows of other 
people. 

Study those sciences which have a practical 
bearing, and particularly the laws which govern 
the human frame; learn how fearfully and 
wonderfully we are made, and that how to keep 
a sound mind in a sound body is a high 
achievement of intellect and good sense. 

Christian art and architecture is a subject too 
wide in its range to touch upon now; but modern 
writers have thrown about it such a wealth of 
words, and painted its treasures in language so 
beautiful, that study in the words of Ruskin, 
Hammerton. and others is almost forgotten in 
delight. By the careful use of the pictures 
which photography places within the reach of 
most educated persons, you can compare the 
glowing descriptions with shadows of many of 
the originals Learn to know a few pictures 
well, if your time is limited, and study the 



CULTURE. 137 

meaning of all the symbols or details introduced. 

Good courses of lectures are very improving 
when you have studied the subject beforehand. 
Unless there is some knowledge of it in the 
mind, nothing but striking eloquence will fix the 
points in the memory during the rapid summary 
necessary in a lecture. Fragmentary, or half- 
f orgotten treasures, will be revived by the touch 
of a skilful speaker, and will furnish, as it were, 
nails upon which to hang new items of 
information. 

Knowledge is not only power, but it is often 
the source of most enlarged charity. When we 
learn to read human nature aright and see its 
history, its power, its weakness, its temptations 
in all ages, we understand, sympathize, and love 
far better than when our daily life seems to us 
a new. strange thing, and the faults and failings 
of those about us unprecedented and alarming. 
Ignorance is generally uncharitable, and the 
more we know, the better we can love, and 
execute x^lansfor the benefit of those we love. 



LETTER XIV. 

SENSITIVENESS. 

Time was, I shrank from what was right, 

For fear of what was wrong; 
I would not brave the sacred fight 

Because the foe was strong 

But now I cast that finer sense 

And sorer shame aside; 
Such dread of sin was indolence; 

Such aim at Heaven was pride, 

J. H. Newman. 

HAT is said by a recent writer of sentiment 
is true of many other things in human 
nature: "Sentiment is the pure and healthy 
root implanted in man's heart by a beneficent 
Creator; sentimentality is the sickly plant which 
his ingenious perverseness has raised from the 
noble stock.'' So of sensitiveness; it is a 
quality bound up with much that is good, 
delightful, and consoling; but it is capable of 
being perverted to an enemy who can mar our 
lives by embittering our thoughts and destroying 



SENSITIVENESS. 1 39 

our usefulness. It is the occasion at once of 
our purest joy and acutest pain. To be instantly- 
alive to impressions of beauty in the natural, 
moral, and spiritual world, brings vivid pleasure; 
but such things are often fleeting, and we must 
grasp them quickly, or they 

"Fade into the light of common day." 

The rosy flush of dawn, the shadows of the 
eventide, and the purple after-glow lingering on 
the hill tops, the clear sparkle of the mountain 
stream, the tender green of the opening buds, 
and snowy purity of the blossoms of Spring 
thrill every nerve with gladness, and to the 
sensitive heart bring healing and peace. 

Tokens of a Fathers love and thoughtful 
kindness to the souls He has made and would 
teach, guide, enlarge, and comfort, fall thick 
about our path, and some natures find compen- 
sation for many wounds in catching their fair 
proportions and studying their beauty. But 

"Hearts that vibrate sweetest pleasure, 
Thrill the deepest notes of woe:" 

and it is well for them, by the exercise of good 
sense and sound judgment, to deaden this 
sensitiveness to many forms of mental suffering. 



140 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

A parish visitor in deep distress of mind at 
the sorrows of the poor, sought counsel of an 
aged clergyman noted for his success in labouring 
among them. He gave, in a few plain words, the 
needed direction to overwrought feeling. "Go 
home now. bathe, and sleep for an hour, and do 
not enter another very poor person's house until 
you have hardened your heart.' 1 Do not waste 
in idle feeling, the strength that might relieve 
the suffering; and let the keen sympathy take a 
practical view always, and devise and execute 
immediate plans for comforting sorrow and 
relieving distress. 

There are cases in which man's hand is 
impotent, and God alone can help His suffering 
children. Do not brood over these in mournful 
musing, but pray to Him, "whose tender mercy 
is over all His works," and "whose ear is ever 
open to the cry of faith." We mast always 
remember that this is God's world. He permits 
evil in it, and its consequences, for some wise 
purpose above our limited powers of compre- 
hension, and we must trust Him to accomplish 
His own plans and bring good to its final 
triumph. Some of Carlisle's rugged rhymes 









SENSITIVENESS. 141 

contain much right thinking upon this subject, 
and you will find them useful when these 
things prey upon your spirits unduly. 

"What shapest thou here at the world? Tis shapen long ago; 
Thy Maker shaped it and thought it be even so; 
Thy lot is appointed go follow its 'hest; 
Thy journey's "begun, thou must move and not rest 
For sorrow and care cannot alter thy case, 
Tis running, not raging, will win thee the race."' 

The sensitiveness described by Dr. Newman 
in the heading to this letter, is the same feeling- 
manifested differently, and is a great barrier in 
the way of true and faithful service. How 
continually do you hear it said. ; 'I would gladly 
help in that good work: but people will talk; it 
seems so officious, or so arrogant in me to 
attempt anything of the kind: I have not the 
courage to endure the comment it will cause.'* 
etc. First be sure it is a right thing to do, that 
family duty gives you leisure to attend to it; be 
careful to do it humbly and prayerfully, and 
then you can know that the shrinking is either 
indolence or pride. Disarm criticism by gentle- 
ness, quietness and humility, and accept counsel 
with gratitude for good intentions, if you cannot 
follow it. Learn from the thrust of your enemies 



142 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

— if you must have them — all the weak spots in 
your armour, and endeavour to strengthen and 
repair them. 

Idle people are generally critical, and the 
energy that should be expended in labour, goes to 
the harsh comments which sometimes disturb 
the peace of the faithful labourer. Ignorance is 
often a captious critic, and fancies that it is 
assuming the part of wisdom to suggest faults, 
and condemn methods it does not understand. 
When you are troubled in this way, deaden 
your sensibilities to prevent wounds, and quietly 
sift out the idle and ignorant criticism, ignore 
the malicious, and take heed to the grains of 
truth and good sense that may be found among 
them all. 

Perhaps the late King of Italy — Victor 
Emmanuel — was one of the most successful 
rulers the world has seen in this century. With 
a single eye to the unity of his kingdom, he had 
rare wisdom in selecting his advisers, and using 
them to serve his purpose. We are told that he 
employed secretaries to read in foreign journals 
every comment upon his administration, partic- 
ularly those whose interests were opposed to 



SENSITIVENESS. 143 

his, and to translate and preserve them for his 
daily study. And "Kino- Honestman." as his 
people loved to call him. learned wisdom from 
friend and foe. 

There is another kind of sensitiveness which. 
unless it proceeds from ill-health, is radically 
wrong. If you are always thinking that people 
mean to wound you, to slight you, to say unkind 
things, and hold you up to ridicule, your body 
or mind is in an unhealthy state. If the former, 
consult the best medical adviser you know, and 
follow his directions implicitly; you are over- 
wearied, if not ill, and rest will probably bring- 
back the right tone to your mind. There is a 
great deal of good feeling and kindness in the 
world, and many people, who are too much 
occupied to go out of their way to say or do 
anything unkind, will often neglect their own 
affairs to do a generous deed. 

The wise "Friends in Council" gives a true 
prescription for such sensitiveness: "Humility 
is a cure for many a needless heartache." 

It is a very healthy occupation to wipe out 
old scores constantly, and not lay up bad feeling 



144 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

for what was, perhaps, an altogether uninten- 
tional offence. A third part of the alienations 
in families and among friends arise from such 
misunderstandings, and might be permanently 
healed by the exercise of a little good sense, 
prudence, and Christian charity. This broad, 
beautiful and endearing virtue includes the 
whole cure for such sensitiveness as I would 
warn you against. If the new translation of the 
Bible should supersede our present version, 
— which seems now unlikely — let us hope that 
its translators will reconsider some points and 
eave us "charity" in all its fulness. Its substi- 
tute seems painfully inadequate to the task, 
"Charity suffereth long. . . .seeketh not her own 
....beareth all things. .. .hopeth all things, 
endureth all things." 

If you are always looking out for chance 
stabs, you will be likely to receive them; but if 
you calmly pat everything of the kind aside by 
the stern exercise of reason, you will rob them 
of half their sting. Do not brood over them, 
but divert your mind with some engrossing 
employment, and do not mention them to other 
people. Take the first opportunity you find to 



SENSITIVENESS. 145 

do some act of kindness to the person who has 
wounded you. not ostentatiously, but simply, 
quietly, and effectively. 

Occasionally you will meet with bright, 
witty spirits, who will allow their repartee to 
become malicious, and throw poisoned arrows 
among their friends. Do not return their 
favours in kind, but try and divert their course 
from some sensitive soul you know they will 
particularly wound, and use your wit to blunt 
their sharpness and divest them of their malice. 

The fashionable banter tolerated in good 
society in these days is an odious thing. You 
will find that those w 7 ho use it most offensively, 
are generally extremely sensitive when the 
sharp edge is turned towards themselves. People 
who tease, can the least bear teasing, and the 
most sensitive people think little of other's 
wounds. But do not let these things move you 
from the path of duty; say w T ith the tender 
heart who wrote our initial lines: 

"So when my Saviour calls, I rise 

And calmly do my best; 
Leaving to Him, with silent eyes 
Of hope and fear, the rest." 



LETTER XV. 

CONTROVERSY. 



"Fear God" has made many men pious; the proofs of 
the existence of God have made many men atheists. From 
the defiance springs the attack; the advocate begets in the 
hearer a wish to pick holes; and men are almost led on 
from a desire to contradict the doctor, to the desire to 
contradict the doctrine. Joubert. 



TITOU have heard it said in excuse for religious 
2-A- controversy, that water, unless frequently 
stirred, becomes stagnant, and that we are 
exhorted by St. Jude to contend earnestly for 
the faith once delivered to the Saints. I do 
not say that this may not be so — though truth 
has an inherent vitality, derived from Him 
whose breath it is, that prevents stagnation; 
and St. Paul's contention seems a different thing 
from modern controversy. 

A valiant knight, gifted with many graces of 
nature, spirit, religion and culture, can, perhaps, 
engage in it without perverting his sweetness of 



CONTROVERSY. 1-47 

disposition, losing his dignity or compromising 

his piety, though you rarely see it clone. In 
some unguarded moment, a flaw is found in the 
armour, even of him who battles for the Truth: 
and the adversary's lance pierces the temper, if 
nothing- else. The fair face of Truth is often 
hidden in the fray, and her voice silent in the 
tumult of the conflict for her rights. If it is 
well for any one to engage in religious contro- 
versy, it is certainly not our province. A 
woman's voice should be too low for such an 
arena, as her arm is too weak to wield the 
weapons it requires, and her mind, generally 
untrained by logic and the sterner studies 
which fit men for the task, cannot grapple with 
the foes that the strife will raise seemingly from 
the dust of the battle-field. 

Mrs. Jameson says truly: that "there are no 
such self-deceivers as those who think they 
reason when they only feel." and this is 
peculiarly a woman's temptation. The very 
warmth of her emotions and the intensity of her 
likes and dislikes, the strength of her 
prejudices, and the sensitiveness of her whole 
nature, should warn her alwavs to avoid a war 



148 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

of words. Declamation is not argument, and 
abundant emphasis upon strings of high sound- 
ing adjectives is powerless for conviction. And 
then, too, women are perilously apt to confound 
the doctrine with the doctor, and fancy that the 
former is disproved when its advocate is disposed 
of as "a horrid wretch!" 

A dignified lady of the old courtly school of 
manners, when asked the secret of her success 
in society, said, playfully, "I never discuss — 
I listen." Because this is one of the most 
difficult accomplishments we have to acquire, 
we are utterly unfitted for controversy. A 
woman's mind will often, by intuition, guess a 
secret that man is painfully toiling up logical 
steps to unravel, and her bird-like faculties may 
sometimes pick out a diamond from chance 
places, while her slower friend is washing the 
sands in careful search for it on the shores of 
Truth. This renders her impatient of the surer, 
safer process, and forgetful of the counsel of the 
wise King, "He that answereth a matter before 
he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." 

The rule of quiet obedience and unques- 
tioning faith, is the only one that will give you 



CONTROVERSY. 149 

peace in discharge of often painful duty for the 
poor, the sick, and the suffering; so. while 
personally you shun engaging in controversy, 
beware of the society of those whose every 
thought tends to argument. Take your stand 
upon the Bible, the Creeds, and the testimony 
of the undivided Church in the early Councils, 
and believe the promise that whosever doeth 
His will shall know of the doctrine. Particu- 
larly avoid all disputes about the ''holy mys- 
teries" which Christ has ordained "as pledges 
of His love, and for a continual remembrance 
of His death, to our great and endless comfort." 
Think of them in the words of Scripture. 
instead of through the mist of obscurity 
with which the labours of controversialists 
have clouded its words. Make a harmony 
of the record of the four evangelists and St. 
Paul upon the subject; and if doubts will be 
suggested by arguments you seem compelled to 
hear, solve them by this unfailing weapon — the 
Word of God. 

The mysteries which angels desire to look 
into might well be left sacred from the strife of 
tongues; but if this cannot be. guard your own 



150 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

reverence of thought, word, and act, in approach- 
ing them, and say always, "Thou hast spoken; I 
believe, though the oracle be sealed,*' Accustom 
yourself to the limitations which meet you in 
every direction, and that are a necessity in a 
state of discipline and probation. You do not 
understand many things, but you can always do 
what is better — have faith in God, and obey the 
aphorism of Sir Philip Sydney, "Reason cannot 
show itself more reasonable than to leave 
reasoning on things above reason." 

In the Church Councils and Congresses, 
much excellent speaking assumes controversial 
aspect. Try and cultivate a judicial frame of 
mind and see both sides. Remember the 
contest over the shield of the knight, of which 
one side was silver and the other of gold, so that 
each party fought for the truth as he saw it; 
but, alas, neither could see both sides. Be care- 
ful, also, that your taste for the beautiful, the 
harmonious and the graceful, does not lead you 
away from the side of right. 

A courteous, well bred man, "upon whose 
lips the mystic bee hath dropped the honey of 
persuasion," whose voice is governed by the 



CONTROVERSY. 151 

rules of elocution, whose accent is polished by 
ripe culture, whose periods are rounded by 
rhetoric while they are dictated by reverence, 
true piety and sincere feeling, has an immense 
advantage over a rough, uncouth speaker, whose 
gestures annoy, whose voice and accent are 
unpolished and provincial, and whose egotism 
overleaps the boundaries of polite usage and 
good taste. Yet. after all. the blunt orator may 
have found the gem. the priceless gem of truth, 
while the acute schoolman may be wandering 
among shadows of his own creating. 

Culture, eloquence, good taste, gentleness, 
candor, reverence and earnestness are all gifts 
and graces to be desired, and whose attainment 
is worth much effort; but a strong, native genius 
can sometimes do without them, and the ring of 
the clear metal will sound above them all. 

The great champions for faith have been 
obliged to engage in many fierce controversies, 
and it is right to value their services. That 
grand spectacle of "Athanasius against the 
world." proclaiming "the Catholic faith is this: 
that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in 
Unity,** is not a solitary instance in the Church's 



152 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

history. Doubtless, then, as in the time when 
Elijah said, "I, even I, only remain a prophet of 
the Lord," He who seeth in secret could say, 
"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, 
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal." 
But they held the faith in secret and in fear; 
and, as when the giant of Gath defied the armies 
of the living God, but a single "youth, ruddy 
and of a fair countenance." was found to accept 
his challenge and go forth to the combat. 

A recent writer, in speaking of the men who 
settled the-foundations of our American branch 
of the Church, lamented their narrowness and 
intimated that their main idea was to hedge in 
"a snug little Zion of their own." It was 
noticed in deprecating this disparagement of 
their labours, that it was owing to their faith- 
fulness and zeal that we had now any Zion left 
to us. 

We cannot judge how necessary some of 
those fierce controversies were in the past, and 
should not undervalue the good intentions of 
many who engaged in them; but we can accept 
the result without reviving the old issues, and 
rejoice that, the strife being ended, united 
labour is possible as never before. 



LETTER XVI. 

EIGHT JUDGMENT. 

Judge of yourself by the good you might do, and 
neglect; and of others by the evil they might do, and omit; 
and your judgment will be poised between too much 
indulgence for yourself and too much severity on others. 

Lavater. 

You should forgive many things in others, but 
nothing in yourself. Ansonius. 

^pHEEE are few places where you will find it 
^- possible to do faithful service alone; and 
concert of action with others, to be free from 
irritation, demands the constant exercise of 
right and charitable judgment. The most 
successful parish work is that done under the 
authority of the rector, or by persons acting by 
his appointment. In this case the plans are 
matured in private and the details only entrusted 
to subordinates. Thus an immense amount of 
friction is prevented, and when the plans are 



154 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

wisely laid according to the teaching of experi- 
ence, and are not the impracticable visions of a 
dreamer, the smoothness of the machinery 
obviates much waste of time, strength, and 
speech. 

But these happy parishes are unfortunately 
not common, and hap-hazard methods of 
administration require the utmost prudence and 
careful thought, to prevent unseemly dissension 
among those who do the actual work. The 
actual workers are seldom consulted in time for 
efficient action, but often at the eleventh hour 
of the working day are told that it was supposed 
they knew they were expected to make the 
necessary arrangements. 

Haste produces nervousness — and this often 
impatience and irritability; then harsh judg- 
ments and peevish words are too apt to follow. 
If you have been accustomed to such a state of 
things it may not seem strange to you, and the 
impression prevails that these are essential 
elements of Church work, for excellent results 
are often obtained in spite of the constant jar. 

Earnestness in one or two people always 
produces wonderful effects, but the wear that 



EIGHT JUDGMENT. 155 

want of system entails is great. It is not often 
in the power of a woman, unless she occupies by 
relationship to those in authority a sort of semi- 
official capacity, to produce a change, except in 
a limited degree, in the manner of working a 
parish. But it is always in her province to pour 
oil on troubled waters, and by quietness, 
gentleness, and unobtrusive faithfulness, to 
make the best of indolence, carelessness, and 
forget fulness. 

If you have a right judgment by the gift of 
nature, you will almost by intuition see things 
in their true light. Among uneducated persons 
this will often appear strikingly, and you will 
find that poor people understand its value. Its 
possessor is a sort of oracle in the neighbour- 
hood: disputed questions, and even family 
quarrels, will be proposed to them for solution 
and settlement, and you will wonder at the 
authority and influence that is exercised. When 
this judgment is taught by deep spiritual 
insight — the gift alone of the Holy Spirit — 
it is an invaluable possession: but constant 
prayer and watchfulness will correct the hasty 
action that often proceeds from want of the 
natural gift. 



156 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Christian people should temper their judg- 
ments by charity, and be very careful not to 
impute wrong motives to those who are trying, 
perhaps with many hindrances, to lead a 
Christian life. Many errors are the result of 
ignorance, inexperience, and want of thought; 
and it is wrong judgment to impute them to 
selfishness, indolence, and deliberate trifling. 
In many cases where the necessity of the hour 
does not require immediate decision, it is best to 
suspend judgment, and be careful not to allow 
any personal feeling to unduly prejudice your 
mind. 

Many things that are not morally wrong in 
themselves may be so to certain persons and in 
special places. Half of the controversy about 
these things would be prevented, if both parties 
would only allow this oft-stated truth. One 
thinks dancing wrong, though he seldom, if 
ever, sees persons dance, and knows nothing of 
its grace, beauty, healthfulness, and attraction 
for young people. Families, and even commu- 
nities, are shaken by the harsh judgments of 
those who are incompetent to form any judg- 
ment in the matter from ignorance, prejudice, 



EIGHT JUDGMENT. 157 

and want of sympathy with the high spirits of 
youth. Be very careful, then, in condemning 
other people's amusements, unless you know 
that they are positively sinful in themselves, or 
the occasion of such constant and widespread 
evil that you cannot be mistaken. Persons will 
condemn with the utmost harshness dancing at 
evening parties, but think nothing of the wine, 
punch, and egg-nogg that are allowed to circulate 
freely at their own entertainments, where boys 
are lured into the path that leads to untold 
misery for their friends and families, and to 
ruin of body and soul for themselves. 

Among many singular instances of what you 
may call judicial blindness, I shall never forget 
the triumph with which an excellent woman 
announced that no child of hers had ever 
danced, and in the next breath asked her 
beautiful daughter to give a young man calling 
upon her, some strong punch. In answer to a 
quiet word in private, begging her not to give, 
at least to this particular friend, such refresh- 
ment, she said, ''but it is Christmas and my 
children must have it." 



158 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Thus the holy festival of the Nativity, 
celebrated by the Feast of Christ's broken Body 
and shed Blood in the morning, was profaned 
by drunken revels called "keeping Christmas" 
before the evening. 

Two sons had gone down dishonoured to 
drunkards' graves, one was fast reeling onward 
on the same oft-trodden road, and their mother 
smiled blandly and put the poisoned cup to other 
people's lips, and thought dancing the worst of 
social sins! 

To attain to a "right judgment in all 
things," as we pray at Whitsuntide, you must 
learn to see both sides of a question. Truth is 
many-sided, and it requires time, experience, 
and pray erful thought often to answer Pilate's 
question, "What is truth?" We have not only 
to hear both sides patiently, but to be careful 
that no prejudice, passion or party feeling warp 
our own mind during the hearing, and distort 
the rays of light that should come through a 
colourless medium. 

Hasty judgments are rarely right judgments 
on account of this natural prepossession for our 
own side. At the best 

"We see but dimly through the fogs and vapours 
Of these our earthly damps;'' 



RIGHT JUDGMENT. 159 

and if the secrets of hearts could be laid open to 
us, we would find many things to temper the 
harshness of our criticism upon our fellows. 
Forgive many things that you cannot excuse, 
and remember Burns' advice: 

"Then at the balance let's be mute, 

We never can adjust it: 
What's done we partly may compute, 

We know not what's resisted." 

In judging our own errors and faults, the 
temptation is toward too great leniency, though 
if the mind allows itself to become morbid by 
dwelling too long upon little failures, we may be 
harsh in self-condemnation beyond the require- 
ments of the case. The wisdom that cometh 
from above is the only security against this 
conceit of our own powers, or the paralyzing 
effects of undue depreciation of our right 
intentions; and this alone can help us to first 
cast out the beam out of our own eye, and give 
us the clear sight needed, if we attempt to cast 
out the mote from our brother's eye. 



LETTER XVII. 



THE BIBLE CLASS. 



^pOEIE four years between the ages of sixteen and 
^ twenty are those during which it is most 
difficult to secure young people to the Church 
and Sunday school. Unless they are constantly 
watched and guarded then, they are apt to fall 
under the influence of careless, idle, or wicked 
companions, and wander far from God and the 
restraining teachings of the Church. Even the 
children of religious people, unless strictly 
taught and prayerfully trained in obedience to 
the rubrics of the Prayer-Book, will be restless 
under the discipline of the Sunday school, and 
often at this most critical time in their lives are 
only kept there by the command of their 
parents, or the affection they may entertain for 
a faithful teacher. 



THE BIBLE CLASS. 161 

Let the teacher of such use every effort in 
her power to retain her scholars in the school. 
Visit them, if possible, in their homes and 
work-shops, and try and interest them in the 
decorations and adornment of the Church and 
Sunday school rooms. It is always well to 
enlist all the strong feelings of youth in 
behalf of their school, and not only to make 
them feel pleasure, but pride, in its order, 
beauty and prosperity. Esprit de corps 
is an excellent thing, and if from the time 
children enter the infant school it is constantly 
inculcated, when they are ready for the Bible 
class they will have thoroughly learned the 
lesson. 

Where the members of your class have come 
up regularly through all the grades of the 
school, the duty of the teacher is much sim- 
plified, but this will probably not be the case with 
half your scholars. Many parents allow their 
children to come to Sunday school so unpunc- 
tually and irregularly that they derive very little 
benefit from it ; and you will often find boys and 
girls in a Bible class, who, though they have 
been nominally members of the school for many 



162 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

years, are more ignorant of the first principles 
of religious truth than a well-taught child of six 
years of age. 

Parents are the best instructors, and when 
these heartily cooperate with faithful teachers 
the happiest results are secured; but these 
hints are hardly needed in such cases. An 
experience of Sunday Schools in many places, 
and of many different classes, has been that 
faithful parental instruction is rare, and, even 
among religious people, great ignorance of the 
fundamental principles of the Bible and Prayer 
Book is too common. 

This is particularly the case among boys; 
there often seems an almost impenetrable wall 
of stolid indifference erected in their minds 
against even the facts of the Bible, and to a new 
teacher they often affect more ignorance than 
they really possess. 

If you are patient and prayerful, you can, in 
time, pierce this hard crust, and then the truths 
taught with so little seeming appreciation will 
spring up and bear fruit. Do not be discouraged 
if you have to repeat the same things each 
week; try to make the constant repetition 



THE BIBLE CLASS. 183 

interesting by faithful study, and give new 
facts for the bright, attentive, and thoughtful 
pupils. 

In reading over the appointed lesson in 
Scripture, many plans have been tried to secure 
the attention of all the scholars. In a class of 
twelve young people over the age of sixteen, 
when the authority of the parents has not been 
exerted to secure the preparation of the lesson 
at home, you will find, perhaps, two or three 
' who have looked at it beforehand, but know 
very little about it: the same number have made 
careful preparation, and the rest cannot even 
tell where the lesson is. These are the idle, 
mischievous or careless ones, whose attention 
you must strive to secure. Generally, they read 
so imperfectly and stumble so painfully over 
the names and longer words, that the other 
members of the class will laugh at them, or 
allow their attention to wander. 

The most successful plan has seemed to read 
over the appointed lesson yourself to them 
aloud first. Ask them to observe particularly if 
you give the proper accent, emphasis and 
pronunciation to every word, and if each 



164 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

member of the class gets a true idea of the 
meaning of the text. Then, if you occupy a 
separate room, and can do so without disturbing 
others, let them all read the lesson together. 
After this let them read it by verses in turn. I 
have known this way of reciting the lesson to 
arrest the attention of those who were most 
careless before, and the three repetitions are 
sufficient to enable all but the dullest pupil to 
answer the questions upon it. 

In teaching young people w T hose minds have 
been disciplined by study in good day schools, 
you will, of course, be able to take a wider range 
and will need more careful preparation for your 
instruction. Study the lesson thoroughly your- 
self, and write out the exposition you draw from 
the best authorities accessible to you. Shun all 
controversy, and if members of the class intro- 
duce objections, tell them quietly, but concisely, 
the arguments for the truth. 

Remember that the Bible was given to us to 
teach the things that belong to the salvation of 
the soul, not science, or merely human learning. 
Its language is optical like that of common life, 
not the exact diction of trained experts in 



THE BIBLE CLASS. 165 

Nature's laws. Study scientific objections, 
that you may be able to give a reason for the 
faith that is in you, and remember that some of 
the most learned scientists have been humble 
Christians.. Galen, Copernicus, Kepler, Faraday 
and Newton read deeply the secret things of 
Nature, and threw light upon many of her 
wonderful laws; yet they brought their know- 
ledge in all lowliness to the foot of the Cross 
and craved the mercy to be found there. 

The epitaph upon the tombstone of Coperni- 
cus, in St. John's of Freuenberg, is: u Not the 
grace bestowed on St. Paul do I ask; not the 
favor shown to St. Peter do I crave; but that 
which Thou didst grant the robber on the 
Cross do I implore." 

Mr. Keble thought that ladies' teaching was 
often most effective for boys, — "It aroused,'* he 
said, "the dormant chivalry in them." To 
develop and retain this sentiment you must 
treat them with the utmost courtesy and 
gentleness, and never let your reproof be such 
as could be ascribed to personal feeling. Be 
very careful not to betray any irritation, even if 
you discover deep-laid plans to annoy you, to 



166 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

trip you in statements, or to show off apparent 
discrepancies in Scripture. It is generally best 
to give the simplest and most natural interpre- 
tation that Church commentators set forth in 
explanation of the Gospel. Do not strive for 
originality, but be contented with understand- 
ing and applying other people's thought. 

There is much that is beautiful in the 
symbolism' of the Bible; its numerals and its 
oriental figures have deep meaning, only drawn 
forth by diligent study: but beware of strained 
and fanciful interpretation, and particularly of 
dwelling upon any one impractical point to the 
exclusion of all else. 

A well-balanced mind is one of the most 
desirable graces which philosophy teaches us to 
acquire, but it can soon be destroyed if we allow 
it to dwell too long upon any one subject, even 
of religious truth. Who has not seen people 
whose usefulness was impaired, if not wholly 
ruined, by talking and teaching the doctrine of 
the second Advent of our blessed Lord, and the 
obligations of Christians to strive for a "higher 
life," to the exclusion of the thousand thoughts, 
motives, and duties so abundantly presented in 



THE BIBLE CLASS. 167 

the Word of God? Live always like those who 
wait and watch for their Lord, and believe that 
"if He shall come in the second watch, or come 
in the third watch, and find them so. blessed are 
those servants." 

If you believe that the branch of the "Holy 
Catholic Church** to which you belong, retains 
the faith once delivered to the Saints in apostolic 
purity and practice, love it, teach its doctrines, 
and uphold them in their grandeur, simplicity 
and truth to your scholars. Let others who 
mock at the fair Bride of the Lamb point out 
the spots of earthly defilement which they may 
imagine soil her white raiments; but let not the 
children rend them from the gracious mother 
because the adversary is strong. Speak rever- 
ently of 

"Her sweet communions, solemn vows. 
Her hymns of love and praise;'' 

and by precept and example teach your pupils 
to rejoice that the lot is fallen unto us in a fair 
ground; yea, that we have a goodly heritage. 



LETTER XVIII. 

MANNERS. 

Manners are the happy ways of doing things; each 
one a stroke of genius or of love, now repeated 
and hardened into usage. They form at last a rich 
varnish, with which the routine of life is washed and 
its details adorned. Emerson. 

X WISH I could coin a few emphatic words to 
1 impress upon you the great importance of 
cultivating pleasant manners. The best inten- 
tions, the most generous, unselfish and praise- 
worthy efforts often fail in producing the right 
effect upon others, because the cold, harsh 
manner in which they are made chills, offends, 
and often hopelessly alienates those whom they 
are designed to benefit. There is no reproach 
you hear more constantly brought against women 
who are really giving their lives to good works, 
than that their freezing manners frighten the 
timid, and disgust the very people they ought 
to conciliate. 



MANNERS. 169 

I am sorry to acknowledge that often the 
reproach is well founded; and some noted 
examples of whole-hearted devotion to the wel- 
fare of the poor and the suffering, have made 
"spots in their feasts of charity" by the careless. 
rude way in which they at first repulsed every 
one who approached them. The harm done to 
the cause to which they were really sacrific- 
ing time, strength, and means, is great. Young 
people say. "I will not have anything to do with 
that charity: it makes people so disagreeable." 
"I cannot join that society, though I approve of it 
heartily, because I could not be in the room 

with that cross Mrs. D ." They will shrink 

from even the most necessary consultation 
because of the quick, sharp replies that it will 
evoke. 

Unfortunately, bad manners are more con- 
tagious than good; and. as Emerson says, others 
"stereotype the lesson they have learned into a 
mode." until to the stranger it seems intolerable. 
I would earnestly beg you to avoid catching this 
tone, and contracting this habit in your life of 
service. A gracious act is twice as gracious if 
done in a graceful manner, and much of the 



170 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

ingratitude which is returned for kindness, is 
due to the way in which the benefit w T as 
conferred. Be true, but express yourself kindly ; 
be sincere, but never harsh, in expressing truth. 

An African chief, in requesting an English 
traveller to have a missionary sent to his tribe, 
asked particularly that he should be a gentleman. 
Savages and children are usually very suscep- 
tible to the influence of good manners; and> 
perhaps, one great secret of the wonderful charm 
the martyr Bishop of Melanesia — Coleridge 
Pattieson — bore about from island to island of 
his widely extended diocese, was the high-bred 
courtesy with which he treated the dusky objects 
of his love and care. He loved them, he taught 
them, and gave his life in seeking to win new 
islands to the fold; but he never forgot, by 
constant gentleness, to show his love. 

It is not always easy to do this. Difficulties 
and annoyances meet us everywhere. You 
must often expect perverseness, stupidity, 
ingratitude, and even maliciousness from the 
recipients of your bounty, and unkindness, 
captiousness, suspicion, envy, and all unchari- 
tableness from others. But you mus| learn to 



MANNERS. 171 

be very patient in unraveling and removing 
difficulties, and in restraining all expressions of 
irritation when your plans are frustrated, and 
offences are repeated. 

A parish visitor, whose district contained 
some of the worst families in the town, made a 
daily call upon one in which a child was ill of 
fever. The grandfather, a surly ruffian, whose 
rugged face bore the impress of his life of crime, 
had a large dog, only a little less fierce than 
himself. This was loosened regularly, and flew 
at the lady as she descended the steps into the 
basement area, grasping her cloak, and pre- 
venting further progress. A naturally fearless 
disposition repressed all exclamations of fright; 
and, by speaking very gently, the dog 
would relax his hold, and she could enter the 
house. Not the least notice was ever taken of 
the manifest unkindness that prompted the 
deed, or of the signal that produced the assault; 
and delicacies were brought for the sufferer at 
each visit. At the end of a week the dog was 
withdrawn, and the old man would take the 
pipe from his mouth to reply to the visitor's 
salutation. 



172 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

This is the way in which all annoyances 
should be met; avoid all notice of the intention, 
and preserve a serene and unruffled demeanor 
amid scenes that produce inward storms. 

"Forewarned is forearmed," says the proverb. 
If you expect such things, they need not startle 
you. Let your soul dwell aloft amid high 
thoughts, and upon serene heights of happiness, 
where the Grace of God feeds those who trust 
in His mercy. To lead others into the same 
peaceful paths where you find rest, you must 
make the way pleasant, and show, by your 
gentleness, winning speech, friendliness, 
courtesy, unselfishness and refinement, that 
you have been taught in the school of life by 
the meek and lowly Son of God. 

Life is education; "time, a measured portion 
of infinite duration," given to fit us for higher 
spheres of activity and duty, when we shall 
have passed from this one room of our Father's 
mansions to another. "I go to prepare a place 
for you," said the Holy One before He took the 
last step in the life of suffering that purchased 
for us the right to enter it. He, a spotless 
Victim, came in the fulness of time, to bear our 



MANNERS. 173 

sins in His own body on the tree: and shall we 
fail in following the blessed steps of His most 
holy life, in loving as He loved, and in showing 
that love by faithful service to Him in minis- 
tering to His suffering children? 

The true secret of all good manners is hidden 
in the aphorism of Goethe. — "With renunciation 
alone can the real life of man be said to begin." 
It is giving up our own selfish thoughts, actions. 
aims, and plans freely, gracefully, and continually, 
to advance the interests of others; it is 
restraining the hasty comment, the rash expres- 
sion of unfavorable opinion; in short, obeying 
perfectly the golden rule. "Therefore, all things 
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye even so to them." 

By constantly exercising self-restraint, the 
manners acquire dignity and polish. The very 
effort we make refines and elevates the character. 

If you are in high position, and in authority 
over those about you. be very careful to resist 
the temptation to become over-bearing, and loud 
in voice and manner. Remember, always to 

"Speak gently! It is better far 

To rule by love than fear; 
Speak gently! Let no harsh words mar 

The good we might do here." 



174 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

You have doubtless witnessed the wonder- 
fully refining influence that true religion brings 
over the manners of those who, even late in life, 
have been brought under its sway. Amid much 
to discourage and depress the spirits you will 
have this gleam of comfort in your labors: 
when the hard heart is humbled by the story of 
the Cross, and the mighty power of God has 
changed the life of those who were before 
strangers to its softening grace, you will often 
find the outward manner telling of the quiet- 
ness and peace within. The highest type of all 
good is their daily study, and He who pleased 
not Himself has become their friend and guide. 

Extremes meet, and I can recall instances 
of refined courtesy among our old-fashioned 
colored people as striking as that of the most 
cultivated society people. Unselfishness must be 
at the root of good manners, and a careful avoid- 
ance of careless words and hasty denial. If you 
are compelled to utter disagreeable truths, put the 
pleasanter part of the subject first, and come 
gradually to the other. Cloak your negatives; 
do not put them forth at once in their full 
harshness. 



MANNERS. 175 

You will bear constant apologies made for 
really well-meaning people, whose blttntness, 

irritable replies, and hasty answers offend, in 
the comprehensive excuse. "It is her way." and 
the expressive, if homely, characterization. "Her 
bark is worse than her bite."* Let me beg you 
not to contract a "way." and never to indulge in a 
"bark.*" One instance of bad manners that 
begins in a nervous habit, is particularly 
disagreeable to most persons: that is. laughing 
upon all occasions, no matter how serious the 
subject discussed may be. and how grave the 
circumstances of those about you. "Giggling- 
girls" have been the subject of much satire, but 
the high spirits of youth allow a wide margin in 
their behalf. But to continue this habit in 
later life is so silly and senseless, that those who 
indulge in it can expect barely tolerance, and 
often contempt. 

The Duke of Wellington is reported to have 
said that "Waterloo was gained at Eton and 
Harrow:" so true is it that the habits and 
manners we acquire during our school days, 
have power to make and mould our future years- 



176 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

The haste of modern life is a great obstacle 
to the cultivation of good mariners. Therefore, 
avoid the hurry which seems often a necessary 
condition of the crowded days that come to us. 
When you get up in the morning, the duties 
that lie before you will often rise to a mountain 
height, and you will be tempted to go forth to 
them in a flurried, distracted spirit. Then, what 
some modern writer calls "the contrariety of 
inanimate nature'" will meet you; doors will 
bang, china will fall, books will be out of place, 
the fire goes out, and a thousand obstacles will 
seemingly arise to bar your progress. Unless you 
can attain calmness under all such annoyances, 
you will be likely to show your impatience by 
some breach of good manners, and by venting it 
upon the innocent persons who share your labou rs. 
Have in your heart some prayer or poem to say 
at such times, to repress any hasty word, such as 
Bonars lines: 

"Calm me, my God, and keep me calm. 

Soft resting on Thy breast, 
Soothe me with holy hymn and psalm, 
And bid my spirit rest " 

The effort you make to recall them will be 
beneficial, and the nervous feeling of haste will 
pass away. 



LETTEE XIX. 

LITTLE THINGS. 

There is no action so slight nor so mean but it may 
be done to a great purpose and ennobled thereby; nor is 
any purpose so great but that slight actions may help it, 
and may be so done as to help it much, most especially 
that chief of all purposes, the pleasing of God. 

Ruskin. 

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will 
never do anything, Db. Johnson. 

X FELT in ray last letter that I had given you 
-±- a very feeble transcript of the strength of 
ray impression of the importance of acquiring 
pleasant manners: and I must try to add a few 
words upon the necessity of observing and 
thinking of little things, as essential to the 
possessor. Life is made up of just such small 
observances and thought: and to keep the mind 
open to remember and the heart and hands 
ready to practice them, is the true secret of good 



178 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

manners. There are few memories sadder in 
the retrospect than the "might-have-beens." 
The friend, now cold and alienated, was estranged 
for the lack of a few cordial words when 
misunderstanding first opened the breach. If 
those little words had been spoken which pride 
stifled, or diffidence refused to utter at the 
bidding of the heart, that friend might have 
been a life-long solace and support. 

Cultivate the habit of always expressing 
your gratitude for little favors that are done to 
you. Particularly in your intercourse with the 
poor, and those who may be under your authority, 
notice any little thing they may have arranged 
to please you, any following of your wishes and 
carrying out of your plans, and express your 
axapreciation, pleasure and gratitude fully and 
cordially. Those who are blessed with this 
world's goods have a thousand ways of showing 
their affection, and can, with small trouble to 
themselves, give tangible proof of their interest 
and kindly feeling. But poverty circumscribes 
all the loving dictates of the heart; and it is only 
by careful study that it can find a way to 
express its gratitude and love. 



LITTLE THINGS. 179 

Few things are more chilling, than the failure 
to make the least response by word or look of 
appreciation, when the utmost pains have been 
taken to gratify the taste of a friend, perhaps 
at a large expenditure of time and thought. 
This may be classed among the little things, 
but it is a great breach of good manners. 

In society, think not so much of your own 
enjoyment, but study the tastes and dispositions 
of your friends, that you may see that they are 
suited with a companion, or employment. 
Introduce persons whom you judge to be 
congenial to each other, and provide for the 
shrinking and the diffident. Look after the 
invalids, and see that they have comfortable 
seats and footstools, and that the air and light 
are arranged as is most pleasant to them. If 
you have been ill yourself, you will understand 
how important these little things are. and how 
the comfort of the whole evening is marred for a 
person who is not well, by an awkward seat or a 
glare of light upon the eyes, 

Never rudely criticise other people's amuse- 
ments, or condemn them as frivolous and 
uninteresting. Tastes differ, and God has not 



180 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

made you the judge for them. If you find that 
your spiritual growth is not promoted by 
indulging in certain social entertainments, give 
them up, if you can do so without injury, or 
occasioning unpleasant feelings to others. But 
do not think that because you do not care for 
them you are any better than those who indulge 
in them. Things indifferent can become bad 
by being left wholly to those whose only aim in 
life is amusement; and the influence of a good 
woman can cast a refining and elevated tone 
over any society in which she mingles. 

"Small service is true service while it lasts;" 
and be careful not to overlook the opportunities 
of rendering it quietly and efficiently. There is 
a degree of humility that becomes morbid; 
do not allow yourself to cherish such a guest in 
your heart. Every one has some gift, some 
talent, some acquirement for which he must 
give account when "the Lord of those 
servants cometh and reckoneth with them.'' 
The five talents will gain "five talents more," and 
the two can gain "two other talents beside them;" 
and it is only the "wicked and slothful servant" 
who will be afraid and hide his talent in the earth. 



LITTLE THINGS. 18] 

Every day we can see the promise fulfilled: "For 
unto every one that hath shall be given, and he 
shall have abundance; but from him that hath 
not shall be taken away, even that which he 
hath." 

We cannot add to the happiness of those we 
love unless we look carefully after little things. 

"Little deeds of kindness 
Little words of love ; ' 

alone can brighten the path of life. God or- 
dains that the souls He fits for the enjoyment 
of Himself, should be made "perfect through 
suffering:" and to each is given its appointed 
burden of sorrow or care. But this sorrow can 
be comforted, and this care lightened, by the 
ministry of kindly words and deeds. It is not 
enough to love deeply and truly, to feel earnest 
and affectionate sympathy; but you must show 
this love and sympathy by gentle words and 
acts. The time is short in which we can thus 
strew flowers on the darkened path of our 
friends, and soon the words that might have 
cheered the living can be sobbed forth only 
over the grave: and the garlands whose sweet- 
ness might have refreshed their weary spirits 



182 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

must be hung over the cold marble of their 
tombs. 

If there is any one living to whom you have 
not rendered grateful acknowledgement of 
kindness, help, and sympathy, hasten to do so 
now. Life is a school, and how shall the 
teachers know that the lessons they set are of 
value to the heart and mind of the pupil, if the 
gleaming eye does not show it, and the expressive 
word is not spoken to point to its significance? 
This acknowledgment may be the "cup of cold 
water" which, if given in the name of a disciple, 
shall in no wise lose its reward. 

A low, sweet voice is one of those little 
things which are so very pleasant in a woman 
as to repay any labor and pains you may take 
to acquire it. Elocution and musical science 
can teach you much about the suitable pitch, 
and inflection, and the management of '''chest 
tones;" but good, unselfish feeling will teach you 
more. Loud talking is so offensive to good 
manners that you must not let any haste or 
excitement induce you to adopt it. Watch 
very carefully when you are hurried or annoyed, 
that you do not raise your voice; it will increase 



LITTLE THINGS. 183 

your nervous haste and deepen your annoyance. 
You may injure by your vehemence those you 
most dearly love, and offend those for whose 
welfare you are willing to make many sacrifices. 
By not speaking without reflection, you will be 
able to govern your voice as well as your temper, 
and the soft words which come then will be 
much more efficacious. 

One little thing which you must be careful to 
watch, is the opportunity that will come to you 
to speak a kindly word of warning to those who 
stand in dangerous places, and to whom the 
temptation of the senses is strong. There was a 
time when the life that is now darkened by sin. 
was open and bright with the promises of 
intellect and virtue. The tempter came with 
the poisoned wine cup wreathed with the roses 
of festivity, and sparkling with the joys of youth. 
A few words then of warning, of cordial interest 
and affection, might have dashed aside the bowl 
beneath whose flowers lurked madness and 
death, and whose sparkle concealed the serpent 
writhing below. Then.it was a little thing to 
speak; now. a giant's weight alone can break 
the cords of the fatal habit that is swiftly 
dragging its victim down to death and hell. 



184 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Never speak lightly of any sin, but particu- 
larly do not laugh at any silly or disgusting 
exhibition of intemperance. Pity the degraded 
victim, and, if you can, draw him from the mire 
into which the baser instincts of his nature will 
drag him. It is a little thing to offer the wine 
cup to a friend, but untold ages of misery may 
be the effect of that act. Everywhere, in the 
mysterious economy of nature, trifling causes 
may produce tremendous changes. Tiny drops 
trickling upon granite can wear away the 
pondrous mass, and the water-flood may deluge 
the emerald-clad valley. Among the workings 
of that wonderful laboratory we call Nature, 
it is often found that little things can set in 
motion mighty convulsions, and produce grad- 
ual, but sure, revolutions. And so in the moral 
and spiritual world, 

"Little things 
On little wings 
Bear little souls to heaven." 



LETTER XX 

OBEDIENCE. 

'•Great may be he who can command 

And rule with just and tender sway: 
Yet is diviner wisdom taught 
Better by him who can obey. 

Blessed are those who died for God 

And earned the martyr's crown of light; 

Yet he who lives for God may be 

A greater conquerer in His sight." 

Miss Proctor. 

JX the restlessness which is such a marked 
characteristic of modern life, many of the 
quiet, unobtrusive virtues which fit one for a 
life of service, are apt to be undervalued and 
overlooked, until experience proves their worth, 
and demonstrates how little value is left to the 
service without them. Perhaps the most 
noticeable point in first making acquaintance 
with new organizations, is. that all seem to be 
rulers, and none are left to obev. The conflict 



186 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

of wills, in such cases, is anything but harmoni- 
ous, or agreeable, to the worker or spectator. 

The powers that be are ordained of God; 
civilization is distinguished from barbarism by 
a submission to law; and cultivated society from 
its reverse, by obedience to the rule which the 
accumulated experience of centuries has im- 
posed upon its members. God's government is 
preeminently one of strict rule; and to educate, 
develop, and govern our bodies, minds, and 
souls, we must render constant obedience to the 
laws He has given us, for our physical, mental, 
and spiritual welfare. 

Concert of action is essential to all successful 
work in the parish; and the rulers in that parish 
are those to whom, by God's appointment, you 
should render obedience. Perhaps, in many 
cases, this will involve some surrender of your 
own rights of private judgment as to what is 
good and best; and it will be your duty, in 
things non-essential, to do this. Few, if any, 
human judgments can be so clear and unhesi- 
tating in their dictates, as to be infallible, and 
your own is as liable to be mistaken, as any 
other. Always remember this when you obey 



OBEDIENCE. 187 

laws that seem to you capable of improvement, 
and learn a lesson in humility as you do so. 

Take the case of a rector who has recently 
come into a parish. He brings with him plans 
that have been matured by the experience that 
the discipline of cities gives, and of whose 
correct workings he has had abundant proof. 
Instantly the conservatism of a small place is 
aroused, although opposition will often rind 
nothing more sensible to urge against their 
adoption, than that "our late rector never 
thought of such things." If a few persons will 
be willing to sacrifice their own private predilec- 
tions and dislike to change, to the instinct or 
habit of obedience, time will soon secure the 
rest. 

Many persons are unwilling to render this 
unquestioned obedience, because they have 
never exerted themselves to understand its 
necessity. They may say. "other people, whose 
feelings are not so strong, or their attachments 
sc settled, may fall into the ranks, but I can- 
not/' Thus you will often see those who are 
capable of rendering most efficient aid in 
various kinds of parish work, standing aloof , 



188 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

because some of the regular rules hurt their 
prejudices, or are contrary to some old-fashioned 
notion of churchmanship. That the world 
moves, and that a narrow province is not all of 
it, are truths they find difficult to practically 
believe; and because others, who have seen 
beyond the limited horizon that bounds their 
view, will not forget this wider vision, is to 
them a cause of offence. 

Then is witnessed a sad spectacle to those 
who love the Church, and pray for her peace 
and unity. Part of a congregation becomes 
alienated from the clergyman, who. by the will 
of God, is appointed to teach them His truth. 
His grace in their hearts may have strength 
sufficient to crush all open signs of enmity ; but 
they become only passive hearers of the Word, 
and refuse all active interest in the work of the 
Church. The temptation of the adversary of 
souls is powerful to those who thus place them- 
selves in an offensive attitude against those who 
differ from them, until unseemly dissensions 
disgrace the Church of God. 

If you are so unfortunate as to live in a 
parish where such malcontents impede its 



OBEDIENCE. 189 

healthy action and growth, you must be very 
careful not. in the least, to sympathize with 
their spirit. Little matters of form and routine 
are very small, compared to the love and charity 
that should reign among Christian brethren. 
You may know, practically, that in many things 
there is a more excellent way; but if those in 
authority prefer the less effective arrangement, 
you must do the best the circumstances of the 
case allow, and leave the rest to God. Always 
pray fervently for the peace of Jerusalem, 
and be careful that your hand, or voice, is never 
raised to violate this peace. Very poor plans 
can become, by the blessing of God, efficacious 
in saving souls, and building up the faithful in 
knowledge and love of the truth as it is in 
Jesus. 

There is no branch of Church work where 
you will not find it necessary to obey those who 
have rule over you. Many little things that 
seem attractive have been found, by experience, 
to be inexpedient, or tending to confusion, in 
caring for the poor. Be very careful to obey 
the laws of the society under which you are 
working. One failure will often produce many 



190 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

others; and it is far better to resign your office, 
and all attempts to act in concert with others, 
unless you can render this obedience. Punctu- 
ality is so essential to all successful effort that 
you have, doubtless, long since learned its 
importance. If your memory is so defective 
that you cannot remember the exact time when 
your duties claim you. it is well to make a list of 
them, and attach it to your calendar, so that it 
will always be in sight. Never allow yourself to 
think that this obedience to rules is a small 
matter. It often affects the whole day; and 
one slight transgression will often annoy many 
others, and bring additional labour upon some 
already fully-burdened friend. 

Promptness in obeying is also essential. 
The time is short, and unless you attend at once^ 
to the duty of the hour, the opportunity may be 
lost. If you have charge of collecting or 
disbursing money for the church, do not wait 
till the last practical moment; something may 
occur to necessarily detain you then, and this 
most important duty is left undone. How many 
admirable plans for aiding the missionary work 
of the Church have come to naught, because the 



OBEDIENCE. 191 

agents would not render this essential obedience ! 
God's tenth has not been collected, or the delay 
in sending it has caused suffering and distress 
to the faithful missionary, and brought a heavy 
pressure of care and debt upon the societies 
which look after their interests. 

I wish I could sketch for you some of the 
painful consequences of disobedience in such 
cases. I have heard sensible women say, "Yes. 
I will join the society, but I must do as I choose, 
come when I like, and obey only those rules of 
which I thoroughly approve."' An element of 
carelessness and insubordination is thus intro- 
duced that will require much patience, prayer, 
good judgment, amiability, and watchfulness, to 
overcome. Many must do double duty to make 
up the deficiencies of these lawless members, 
whose example will often affect others; for 

' 'It is the little rift within the lute 
That by and "by will make the music mute." 

In all the rules laid down for the guidance of 
women who give themselves to a religious life 
in a community, obedience is one of the points 
most strictly insisted upon. Vincent de Paul, 
in his first discourse to the sisters of charity, 



192 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

who, under his guidance, wrought such a change 
in France in the seventeenth century, said to 
them: "Your convent must be the house of the 
sick; your cell, the chamber of suffering; your 
chapel, the nearest church; your cloister, the 
streets of a city or the wards of a hospital; the 
promise of obedience your soul enclosure, and 
womanly modesty your only veil.'* 



LETTER XXI. 

THE CARE OF THE SICK. 

•'The world's a room of sickness, where each heart 

Knows its own anguish and unrest; 
The truest wisdom then and noblest art, 

Is his whose skill to comfort 's best." 

iN every little village and town there seems a 
choice band of unselfish spirits who give 
their time, and strength, to caring for the sick; 
and as soon as the harbinger of the Angel of 
Death comes to the household, the thoughts of 
the inmates go immediately toward these 
ministering spirits of humanity. I have often 
wished that the records of some of these noble 
ones could be given to the world, which is 
always bettered by knowing of the soft under- 
current of noble deeds, and self-sacrificing 
devotion, that glides unnoticed and unknown 
through the byways of daily life. 



194 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

In cities, so much may be purchased by 
money, that the friendly office is not so 
conspicuous; but among the hidden heroes of 
the world few shine with brighter lustre than 
those 

" Whom by the softest step and gentlest t one 
Enfeebled spirits own; 
And love to raise the languid eye, 

When like an angel's wing they feel them flitting by." 

There is a degree of natural aptness that 
distinguishes these faithful nurses, and makes 
their ministrations so acceptable to the weary 
sufferer. The quiet footfall, the low, clear voice, 
the unhurried movements, the noiseless arrange- 
ments, and the watchful care that wards off 
annoyances, are priceless boons in the chamber 
of sickness. They may be acquired by all; and 
often the promptings of affection have taught 
them to those whose every habit of life was 
foreign to their acquisition. 

The trained nurses in hospitals, and 
especially ladies who have studied under skilled 
physicians, attain wonderful facility in sooth- 
ing the patients, and bringing order, quietness, 
and peace to the sick room. They have learned 



THE CARE OF THE SICK. 195 

the best way of doing everything required for 
the comfort of the sufferer, and found the happy 
medium of caring for them as their needs 
demand, without wearying them by constant 
and harassing efforts to relieve. You have 
asked me to give you some hints as to the 
secret of their success: and though, perhaps, the 
same things have been said often before, I will 
try and note a few prominent features of it. 

The practice of having a "sick room** in each 
family is a wise one; and it is well for it to be. if 
possible, somewhat removed from the noise and 
necessary sounds of the household. Let the 
arrangements for ventilation be good; the 
windows opening from the top. and the blinds 
prej)ared to increase or diminish the light at 
pleasure. 

If the patient can be kept out of the draught, 
have a circulation of fresh air always through 
the apartment. If you can enjoy the luxury of 
an open fire, this will be quite easy; but it needs 
care not to let the temperature go below a 
certain point. This, I suppose, may differ 
according to the disease and temperament of the 
patient: but higher than sixty-five degrees in 



196 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

winter seems unwise. Abundance of light 
coverings should be provided to throw over the 
bed in case of chilliness, and to place about 
the shoulders of the patient when sitting up. 
Remove all useless articles of furniture, but do 
not allow the room to have a stripped look. A 
nurse should never sleep with a sick person, 
but occupy a small bed near. 

If you have been familiar with the disposition 
and habits of your patients in health, you will, 
of course, be better adapted to understand their 
peculiarities in illness, though some persons 
seem to entirely change their natures under the 
influence of disease. A cheerful sick room, 
where all of the needful appliances for medicines 
and remedial measures are kept out of sight, is 
best for everybody. 

A plain wall of a neutral tint, with a few 
landscapes and religious pictures upon it, is 
most grateful to the eye. Dotted wall paper, 
which, in feverish wakefulness, the patient will 
nervously feel compelled to count, is a useless 
aggravation. A few flowers in a glass will make 
a bright spot for the restless eyes; but strong 
odors will often distress the over-sensitive 



THE CARE OF THE SICK. 197 

nerves, and the bouquet should be daily 
removed. 

The Flower Missions "which are so success- 
fully supplying the sick with these beautiful 
messages of God's love." have done much to 
brighten the lives of sufferers in the hospitals, 
and crowded houses of the poor. It is 
• touching to see the eagerness which the patients 
evince in claiming their own particular bouquet, 
and the lingering tenderness they will display 
when it is to be changed for a fresh one. "The 
Silent Comforters." Scripture mottoes, and 
emblems now so common, become very precious 
to sick persons. 

A lady I met abroad was once ill in a room 
where an illuminated text upon the wall brought 
her such a change of feeling, that she devoted 
her time, upon recovering, to painting similar 
ones in many different languages, and distribut- 
ing them, personally, in large boarding houses 
and hotels. She allowed me to choose the one 
I liked best for my room in Switzerland, and 
showed me others in Russian. Italian and even 
in Chinese, and the dialects of India. 



198 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

Scrupulous cleanlinesss is one very import- 
ant requisite of your care. Let all the glasses 
and china be cleaned immediately after using; 
if possible, in a separate room, but if not, very 
quietly out of the patient's sight. Hot water 
should be always at hand, and, in summer, a 
spirit lamp with which to prepare light articles 
of food. 

Obey the directions of the physician implicitly, 
and induce the patient, unless very feeble, to 
tell him all change of symptoms. Be careful 
that your dress does not rustle, and is of suitable 
length, and without superfluous trimming. 
Wear soft shoes, and move about the room when 
necessary with a quick, elastic tread, instead of 
the slow, creaking footsteps, which some think 
appropriate to illness. 

Do not weary the patient by discussions of 
any point; for the mind, as well as the body, is 
weakened by disease. Keep all preparations 
for medicine, or treatment, out of sight till the 
last moment before using, and bring suitable 
articles of food to the bedside of the invalid at 
the proper time without consultation with him 
beforehand. Often the mention of food will 



THE CARE OF THE SICK. 199 

sicken, when the sight of it, in the surprise of 
the moment, may induce tasting, and, at last, 
eating a suitable quantity. 

If the patient craves some particular article 
of food that is not positively unwholesome, the 
physician will often allow him to have it. 
Hypocrates says, "The second best remedy is 
better than the best, if the patient likes it best." 
But if such fancies are only the whim of an 
undisciplined nature, accustomed to no higher 
guide than its own likes or dislikes in health 
it is not well to regard them much. 

Such characters are best under strong 
government, and illness is often aggravated by 
yielding to their perverted tastes. In the 
admirable practice of medicine that now prevails, 
drugs are used sparingly, and regular food, 
constant watchfulness, cleanliness, fresh air, 
warmth, sunlight, and rest, have taken 
their place. Hypocrates' "three best physi- 
cians*' are now the most fashionable — "Dr. Diet, 
Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merryman,'* and have many 
cures to report. 

It is very important that those who care for 
the sick should regard their own health, and,*by 



200 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

exercise in the open air, and occasional change 
of scene, retain that cheerfulness which is so 
important an element in their success. Train 
two or three helpers, who will be as anxious as 
yourself, to follow the physician's directions 
without discussion. The plan in hospitals is to 
write these on a card above the bed, out of 
sight of the patient, so that any change of 
attendants will not produce disturbance. 

In fever, where it is necessary to administer 
food, or tonics, many times to prevent the 
strength from sinking, it is better to have a 
written schedule of the hours. Never consult 
the patient about these things, or, indeed, upon 
any other subject; but do everything to shield 
him from care or painful thoughts about 
himself or others. Some short devotional 
exercise every day will refresh rather than 
weary the mind, and the stated visits of a 
clergyman are of great service. "The Order for 
the Visitation of the Sick," in the Prayer-Book, 
is admirably adapted to its purpose, and the 
familiar words rarely lose their power to soothe. 

In cases of dangerous illness, if the patient 
does not understand the danger, it is well, in 



THE CARE OF THE SICK. 201 

most cases, to let him know the probability of 
fatal termination. To one who. in health, has 
brought mind and heart into subjection to the 
will of God. this need bring no alarm. Life and 
death are alike gifts of heavenly love, to be 
received with gratitude and trustful submission. 
The "dark valley" has been lighted by the 
footsteps of the Holy one. and we can tread 
the painful road cheerfully, upborne by His 
strength, made perfect in our weakness. 

Doubt often causes pain that certainty will 
remove: and quietness generally comes to the 
Christian when he understands what is the will 
of God concerning him. A sick bed is the last 
place in which we can prepare for death. 
Physical infirmities are so engrossing, and the 
mind, even when not clouded by feverish wander- 
ings, is so excited by the conflict with pain, or 
so deadened by suffering, that it refuses to rouse 
to the then difficult task. 

If you live yourself with death always in 
view, and think and speak of it as that good 
Angel who loves us best, and will gently lead us 
through the lighted pathway to the blessed rest 
of Paradise, you can have more influence in 



202 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

bringing your patient to the same bright 
uplooking for the opening gates, and cheerful 
readiness for the call that will bring him where 
alone "are true peace, sure repose, constant, firm 
and eternal security." 



LETTEK XXII. 

HEALTH. 

"As wine savors of the cask where it is kept, so the 
soul receives a tincture from the body through which it 
works." 

?HE ever-changing wheel of fashion, public- 
opinion. — or whatever you choose to des- 
ignate the mighty power that insensibly governs 
the majority. — now decrees that it is compatible 
with its highest favor to be well, robust, and 
active. Formerly pallor was fashionable, a want 
of appetite was considered "genteel." and 
languid strolling up and down much frequented 
streets the only lady-like walking. 

The novels of the older day depicted their 
heroines as shrieking at a spider, trembling 
before a cow. and fainting at the approach of a 
thunder storm. Watchful cavaliers must escort 
the timid maiden, or protecting duennas guard 
her goings in all directions, and any but the 



204 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

most perfunctory care of the poor was denied to 
the fair captive. High flown compliments, or 
silly platitudes, were considered the respectful 
topics of conversation, while the mysteries of 
life and death were all too high and serious for 
discourse between sexes. 

These pale, shrinking creatures have had 
their day; the stern duty of the hour sweeps 
them away in its progress. Where they linger, 
perhaps aged and poor, treat them tenderly as 
waifs from the past; find, if you can, some 
congenial nook where they may live out their 
little life of gentle illusions undisturbed by the 
din and conflict of modern days. 

Very much of that ultra squeamishness and 
fastidious choice of food, words, and actions, was 
altogether sham. The delicate lady, who never 
ate anything at the regular meals of the family 
on account of her "poor appetite," or would 
daintily feed upon the wing of a chicken, sweets, 
or the dessert, and sip iced drinks only, was 
often a stealthy visitor to the pantry, and kept 
packages of dainties hidden for secret feasting. 
This alone was enough to unstring the nerves, 
and would soon make the delicacv of health no 



HEALTH. 205 

longer imaginary. The night held terrors for 
such, and they shrank from the friendly 
darkness, sleeping with night lamps in their 
chambers, and trembling at the evening wind. 

The extreme precision of conversation in 
public was so wearying, that the lady's maid often 
heard language quite the reverse; and, indeed? 
words alone were not considered sufficient to 
enlighten their dull perception, and the children 
and servants would know, by experience, the 
weight of a little white hand. 

The reaction from this sentimental timidity, 
squeamish delicacy, and languid seclusion, has 
come with such power that we begin to see the 
dangers of this extreme also. Modern young 
ladies, with their dash and daring, climbing 
Alpine summits, swimming the torrent, shooting- 
rapids in canoes propelled by their own strength, 
remind one of Tennyson's dream of his "dusky 
race:** 

"Iron- join ted, supple sinewed, 
They shall dive and they shall run." 

But if the strength gained in these open air 
exploits is used afterwards to do the Master's 
work, and true womanly modesty governs the 



20 6 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

speech, and restrains the exuberance of animal 
spirits, I think we need not fear this contagious 
"muscular" Christianity. 

Every woman should know enough of 
medical science to understand the laws of 
health; and have enough common sense to apply 
them to the requirements of her own consti- 
tution. But. knowing this, it is not well to 
think much of them, or fancy that every little 
necessary undue exertion will make you ill. 

Take substantial food at regular, suitable 
intervals, and then forget the process of 
digestion; only be careful not to disturb it by 
eating anything else. Food is one of the good 
gifts sent us by God. and is to be enjoyed, like 
all His gifts, in moderation. Cultivate simple 
tastes, and the "dinner of herbs" will be as 
palatable as a "lordly dish." Exercise in the 
open air, and suitable occupation of mind and 
body, not pursued to excess, will, unless your 
constitution is unusually frail, give you a 
healthy appetite for wholesome food. 

Moderation in all things is one of the most 
essential things in seeking health — in eating, 
in drinking, in amusement, in labor, in study, 



HEALTH. 207 

in exercise, in speech, and in sleep. Do not 
spend the beautiful morning hours in unhealthy 
slumber, but rise promptly, bathe and prepare 
yourself, by devotion, for the duties of the day. 
Have these marked out for you, so that, 

"Without haste, without rest." 

you may faithfully fulfil your appointed task. 
Eecollect that God made us, body and soul. "He 
knoweth our frame and remembereth that we 
are but dust,'' and unless we obey His laws our 
days will be passed in sorrow- or sin. Refer all 
the actions of your life to His guidance, and be 
taught by grace not to live to eat, but to eat to 
live. There is no matter so small that we may 
not consult our Heavenly Friend, and ask His 
wisdom to lighten our darkness. 

If you are ill, His blessing may restore you 
to health, and you will then understand fully 
what a rich blessing He has given you, and how 
careful you should be to preserve it. Unless 
you have some infirmity that positively forbids 
it, regular daily exercise in the open air is 
essential to health. Prepare yourself against 
the weather by warm wraxDpings in winter; short 
dresses, thick shoes, and water-proof outer 



208 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

garments in rain; and you can brave all its 
vicissitudes. Be careful never to remain longer 
in damp clothing than possible, and in removing 
them use friction to prevent the possibility of a 
chill. 

Have some object in your walks, and they 
will never become tedious. Visit the poor, the 
sick, your Sunday school scholars, and your 
friends. It was said of Sir Fowell Buxton that 
"he walked through the world like a man 
passing through the wards of a hospital, and 
stooping down, on all sides, to administer help 
where it was needed/' In this way new forms 
of service will be opened to you; and you will 
need all the vigor of mind that firm health 
gives you, to follow up the leadings of Provi- 
dence. 

"Labour and rest," was the wise advice of a 
celebrated physician to his patients, and it is 
essential in the preservation of health. Change 
of occupation is often rest to the weary. The 
mind, fatigued by close application to study, 
should, by physical exercise, relax its tension 
and recover strength. Perfect trust in the love 
of God, and the faithfulness of our Heavenly 



HEALTH. 209 

Friend as a guide and protector, in all the 
chances and changes of this mortal life, will 
keep the mind in health and react upon the 
body. Every incident of our lives happens by 
the permission of this Lord and Governor of 
the world, and is part of the discipline that is to 
prepare us for another. Do not rebel against 
your lot in life, but 

"Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is kind; 
And bear ye all life's changes wi calm and tranquil mind. 
Though pressed and hemmed on every side, have faith, 

and ye 11 win through, 
For ilka blade of grass keeps its ain drop of dew." 

Beware of the use of stimulants when you 
are weary. They bring an unnatural excitement 
for the time that may be pleasant, but the 
reaction is more depressing afterwards. Alcohol 
is a certain poison, destroying the delicate 
tissues of the body, and rendering those who 
accustom themselves to its use, liable to all 
sudden and violent disorders, which they have 
no strength to resist. 

Drugs should be used very sparingly, and 
never without the advice of a physician. The 
practice that obtains in some families of 
administering strong medicines for simple 
ailments is very injurious, and should be steadily 



210 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

resisted. Medical men say that much of the 
delicacy of the ladies of the present day is due 
to the fact, that they were accustomed to a 
practice that sanctioned such things in their 
childhood. 

Do not let any false pride prevent you from 
acknowledging that you are weary, and accustom 
yourself to stated periods of rest. Try to avoid 
all mental excitement in the evening, that you 
may enjoy sound and refreshing slumber; and 
learn to lay aside all subjects of perplexing- 
thoughts, as you do your garments, at night. 
Commit them, with all else that belongs to you, 
to the care of Him whose wisdom cannot err, 
and whose kindness cannot fail; and if His 
mercy deny you health of body, you can have 
the blessing of a quiet, contented, and thankful 
spirit. 



LETTER XXIII. 

TRAVELLING. 

"All scenes alike engaging prove 

To souls impressed with sacred love! 

Where'er they dwell, they dwell in Thee; 
In heaven, in earth, or on the sea." 

Madame Guyon. 

IN the days of our ancestors, when a coach 
and four was necessary for a journey, 
travelling was a luxury for the few favored ones 
of fortune. But now that "the resonant steam 
eagles" fly in all directions about us. and we can 
make our forty miles an hour over the iron tracks, 
it seems as if all the world were moving upon 
them. The prophetic times are upon us, when 
"many shall run to and fro. and knowledge shall 
be increased." 

There are many advantages in such a state of 
things. Narrow views are lost in the wide 
prospect that is opened before us. We find 



212 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

happy homes, holy men and women, and busy 
people, striving to make the world better from 
their living in it. everywhere. Each view of 
men and nature succeeds so rapidly that we, at 
first, do not see the essential likeness under the 
seeming diversity. In the morning w T e can pace 
the white sea-strand, and watch the emerald- 
tinted waves dash "against a tremorless cliff, 
one moment a flinty cave, the next a marble 
pillar, the next a fading cloud:" or the snowy 
foam-crested billows riding rapidly in to cover 
the moss-grown rocks, taste the briny breath, 
and be drenched with the salt spray of the 
ocean; and at evening bask on cool uplands, 

" in whose dusk arcades 

The very noonday seems of twilight emulous," 

w T hile the keen mountain breezes sweep through 
the pines with a wild, unearthly moaning. 

But the ear that is tuned aright, to read the 
sublime harmony of nature, can hear the same 
undertone of solemn meaning in the murmur of 
the deep, and the sonorous chords of the forest 
melody on the hill tops. All these voices 

"May blend about God's altar, 
And help to fill the Psalter 
That's divine." 



TRAVELLING. 213 

To travel aright, we must learn thoroughly 
the old childhood's lessons of "eyes and no 
eyes." Everyone seems to move about from 
place to place in these days, but how many 
derive little benefit from their movements! You 
hear people speaking- of an Alpine tour: and 
instead of recalling those noble snow-crowned 
mountain tops, with their glittering seas of ice. 
and the pink flushes of the after-glow at sunset. 
— surely the most beautiful sight this side of 
the gates of Paradise. — they complain of a poor 
breakfast on the Rigi. and a crowded steamer 
on Lake Lucerne. Ruskin's American girl, 
driving through one of the most sublime pas-er- 
of the Alps, with the carriage curtains drawn 
down, and reading a French novel, must be no 
unusual spectacle, from the few ideas many 
travellers seem to gather on their journeys. 

I am sure you do not thus slight the noble 
works of the Creator, or shut your eyes to the 
beauties of the mountains. You feel that they 
"were built for the human race, as at once their 
schools and cathedrals, full of treasures of 
illuminated manuscript for the scholar, kindly in 
simple lessons to the worker, quiet in pale 



214 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

cloisters for the thinker, glorious in holiness for 
the worshipper;" and, by the grandeur and 
beauty of the cloud-land into which they raise 
their snowy heads, giving us faint glimpses of 
those hills of the Lord where we shall walk 
with never weary feet. 

We honor the Creator in studying His 
handiwork, believing that "the strength of the 
hills is His also/' The spirit of the Benedicite, 
where ice and snow, lightnings and clouds, and 
all the green things upon earth are called upon 
to join with the spirits and souls of the right- 
eous, to praise and magnify Him forever, is the 
spirit of the Christian rejoicing in the works of 
the Lord. Open your heart to all the sweet 
influences when you travel, and forget the little 
annoyances that will come by the way, in storing 
up the fair sights, pleasant sounds and fragrant 
breaths, to refresh your memory in other years. 

In going through the Mont Cenis pass one 
February day, when the sunshine was brilliant, 
but the air keen, it was observed that one side 
was glittering with icicles, into which the 
mountain streams had frozen, and on the other 
the little plain was a bed of primroses. The 



TRAVELLING. 215 

unexpected sight of their delicate loveliness. 
amid the wild grandeur of the snowy mountains, 
can never be forgotten. 

When you travel, leave, if possible, care 
behind, so that no 

"Cloud within dims the bright, still, summer air;" 

for the ''sick heart" refuses to acknowledge the 
beauty of Nature. 

It is said that travelling brings out all the 
hidden traits of character; if so, selfish people 
must be largely in the majority. Witness a 
weary mother coming into a railway car, with 
two or three little children clinging to her. 
Seemingly, every seat is full; but really, twenty 
people have their packages piled up on the 
vacant one beside them, and only one or two 
will make the slightest effort to remove them, 
unless required by the conductor to make room 
for the way-worn travellers. 

Think of Napoleon's reproof to a fashionable 
lady who was disinclined to allow a working 
woman, laden with a large parcel, to pass her; — ■ 
"Madame, respect the burden." Stand cheer- 
fully in such a case, if you are well; if not. 
make every effort to procure accommodation for 



216 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

your burdened sister. If you are travelling with 
a mother who has the sole care of little children, 
see if you cannot lighten this charge by taking 
by your side one of her little flock, or furnishing 
diversion for them when they are tired and 
fretful. 

A crowded railway line passed by a grove, 
where, as is so customary in summer, some 
religious services were being held. A band of 
plain looking men came on the train with hymn 
books in their hands, and, as only a few could 
find seats, began to pace up and down the car, 
singing as they walked. The leader was a pale, 
dark-eyed man, with kindly look and gentle 
ways; and before an hour was over he had 
opportunity to do some little act of thoughtful 
service to many of his fellow travellers. 

The day was warm, and the atmosphere of 
the crowded car close and unpleasant. He 
opened the ventilators, shut out the too intru- 
sive sunbeams, arranged the seats, put the 
packages neatly into the racks, comforted some 
crying children, and took some of the fretful 
little ones, by tarns, in his arms and hushed 
them to sleep. Such a look of grateful relief 



TRAVELLING. 21 < 

came over the face of one tired woman who had 
been thus befriended, that I can never forget 
its pathos. ; 'We have been travelling two days." 
she said, "and you are the first person who has 
offered to help me.*' Others, awakened by this 
example, brought refreshment to the weary 
party; and a spirit of interest was aroused in 
the children that comforted the way-worn 
mother. 

"The business of a philosopher," said 
Pythagoras, "is to look on;"* but the business of 
a Christian is to help at all times and places 
where a kindly word, or thoughtful act. will 
lighten care or comfort sorrow: and this x^lain 
man, with defective grammar and discordant 
singing, was following closely in the footsteps of 
Him who went about doing good. 

If you remain long enough in any place you 
visit, inquire into the condition of the poor, and 
the measures that are being taken to relieve 
them. Find out from the rector of the parish 
where visiting would be acceptable, and enter 
into the joys and sorrows of their lives as 
synrpathisingly as if you had always known 
them. 



218 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

You may thus brighten up for yourself 
hours that would otherwise be lonely, and estab- 
lish ties of grateful affection among strangers. 
Attend faithfully upon the services of the 
church, and be as prompt in responding to the 
calls for charity, as at home. If you accept the 
ministrations of the clergy, you are bound to 
contribute toward the necessary expenses of 
worship. 

Surely, it must be from thoughtlessness that 
this most important duty is so often neglected. 
Strangers, in summer resorts, often crowd into 
little churches there, and expect to receive 
courtesy and hospitality from the regular 
congregation; and yet allow Sunday after 
Sunday to pass without making any response to 
the call of the offertory. 

While contributing according to the measure 
of ability that God has given you, and denying 
yourself, that you may aid in sustaining the 
worship of God, be careful not to criticise the 
manner of conducting the services. In cities 
you can have the sweet music from highly 
trained boy-choirs, leading, as is most suitable, 
the praises of God's people; but, in the country, 



TKAVELLING. 219 

the men often stand aloof, and the feebler voices 
of the women compose the choir. Xo matter 
how faulty may be their execution, never allow 
yourself to smile or to criticise. God looks upon 
the heart, and the quivering notes of untrained 
worshippers may go up from earnest spirits, as 
acceptable worship before His throne. 

Be as quiet and reverent in "the upper 
room." or the hotel parlor that is used for the 
service, as if you were in a stately cathedral; and 
never notice any little accident, or mistake, 
that may interrupt its order. If no provision is 
made regularly for worship on Sunday, see if 
you cannot arrange with some of your friends to 
read parts of the prayers, and a sermon. Much 
may be done in this way by a little effort: and 
I have seen at the Springs in summer, where 
many gentlemen were invalids, and no clergy- 
man was present, the whole of Morning 
Prayer read by five or six different persons, the 
music reverently conducted, and a large congre- 
gation devout and attentive. 

On the Continent, the English have Chapels 
at all of the principal resorts for travellers, and 
you will find comfort and pleasure in making 



220 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

use of their services. Do all in your power to 
sustain the ministering clergyman, and see if you 
cannot devise ways and means for his worthier 
support. "They who minister about holy things 
live of the sacrifice," and "even so hath the Lord 
also ordained, that they who preach the gospel 
should live of the gospel." If there is no 
church, make every effort in your power to 
have one built. All over our land there are 
springing up little houses of prayer that were 
built by the energy, prayer, and efforts of 
faithful women, and it may be your blessed 
privilege to add another to their number. 



LETTER XXIV. 

CAKE. 

"Upon the glass the creeping fly 
Will shut out mightiest worlds on high; 
So care, to thankless mortals given, 
Will hide from us our God and heaven." 

Rev. Isaac Williams. 

JN hours of elevated feeling we can look back 
over the way through which our God has 
led us. and wonder at the blindness that hid the 
guiding ray of His love. Care darkened the 
path, and we struggled wearily to pierce its 
shadows. 

Now, in the retrospect, we see that it was 
mercy which sent the dimness that enveloped 
us. to hide evil things which lurked amid its 
recesses, or covered a temptation that might 
have been too great for our strength. "Earthly 
care" can always be made "heavenly discipline^ 
if we cease rebelling against its imposition, and 
look upon it as a friend instead of an enemy. 

When we see the wrecks that are made of so 
many idle lives, and the ennui that settles upon 



222 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

all who have not some definite aim and object 
in existence, we may gladly turn to occupation 
as a safeguard, and accept the care that 
necessarily accompanies it as a wholesome 
restraint. 

But, alas! we can not always '"keep heights 
which the soul is competent to gain. Man is of 
dust," and we soon descend to the level wheie 
care is ready to enslave us, and we groan as 
beneath the exactions of a stern master. 
Atfader, in the old Norse legend, did not 
quench his thirst at Mimir's spring — the 
reputed fountain of all wisdom — until he left 
his eye in pledge; and, too often, when we have 
be come m wise enough to see aright, the time for 
using the vision is almost past. 

We struggle against care; it darkens our 
days, and threatens to overwhelm us. We carry 
it wearily to our pillows, but it allows us only 
fitful, broken slumber, haunting us in dreams, 
and keeping the night watches in wakefulnes 
and unrest. We toil 

"For ligh t— for strength to bear 
Our portion of the weight of eare 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One-half the human race." 



CARE. 223 

Why is it that so many fail to learn the 
happy secret of casting the heavy weight upon 
Him who has promised to relieve us of the load? 

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.'' 

Is this a difficult thing to do when we know 
that the Heavenly Friend, who thus assures us 
of His love, is all powerful, and can take all 
oppression from the burden His wisdom sees 
we need? Christ commands that ye "take heed 
to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be 
overcharged with .... cares of this life;'* and 
they are classed among the symbolic thorns that 
• spring up and choke the good seed of the Word 
so that it can "bring no fruit to perfection." 

What can be more full and tender than the 
invitation, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord 
and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer 
the righteous to be moved;" and the exhortation, 
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything, 
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, 
let your requests be made known unto God." 

Because they will not accept this gracious 
invitation, and forget the exhortation of Infinite 
Love and Wisdom, many children of The King- 
are careful and "troubled about many things," 



224 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

when but one thing is needful to relieve their 
distress: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust 
also in Him: and He shall bring it to pass;" or, 
in the words of Solomon: "Commit thy works 
unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be 
established.'' 

In youth we may sing gaily, "Begone, dull 
care," without in the least understanding "the 
heavy and the weary weight of all this unintel- 
ligible world." Happy are we if we can carry 
the buoyant spirit into later years, only conse- 
crating its buoyancy by steadfast confidence in 
God, and constant faith in the wisdom that 
appoints our lot in life. 

A quaint old Spanish proverb says: "In 
trouble, to be troubled, is to have your trouble 
doubled;" and so, if we take undue care upon 
us, each duty becomes a burden. Learn to take 
but one step at a time, asking for grace and 
wisdom to take that step aright, and look forward 
hopefully to the future, believing that God is 
all-powerful to lighten the seemingly darkened 
path. Buff on says, that "genius is patience;" 
and we must often be content to do the best 
that circumstances allow, and wait quietly and 



CAKE. 225 

peacefully for the result, which will come in 
God's own good time and way. 

Turn. then, cheerfully to the next duty; 
grapple with its difficulties courageously, be- 
lieving that they are part of the " daily bread** 
for which we prayed; and that the struggle is 
to strengthen our souls, and help us to feed 
upon the true Bread which came down from 
heaven. 

This earth is so richly endowed with the 
material elements of happiness: there is so 
much that is pleasant to the eye, refreshing to 
the taste, and elevating to the imagination; 
there are so many true and beautiful relations 
and affections to satisfy the heart, that we 
should cling too closely to its joys, if God did 
not appoint to each human soul its burden of 
care or sorrow. He may not see fit to lighten 
this load: but He can always give us strength 
to endure, wisdom to understand, and grace to 
extract the hidden sweetness from the seeming 
evil. 

But, besides the care that God sends us, 
there is very much that is self-inflicted, or 
made to swell up to a mountain height by 



226 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

needless aggravation. By living beyond your 
income, by incurring debt, by extravagance in 
dress, entertainment, and food; by withholding 
the tenth from God, and thus defrauding Him 
of His just dues, you lose His blessing who 
alone maketh rich and adds no sorrow thereto; 
and you bring a load of care and perplexity 
upon yourself and others. If you have the 
management of your own affairs, never make a 
purchase unless you can pay for it; wait until 
the money is in hand, and it may prove that 
the wish for it was an idle fancy in which you 
can not afford to indulge. 

Debt is one of the heaviest cares to an hon- 
orable mind. If, by the mismanagement of 
others, you have been so unfortunate as to be 
immersed in it, direct all your energies to its 
payment, and never feel that yon can allow 
yourself any but the simplest necessities of life, 
until you are again free. To make a purchase 
when you have no means of payment, is really 
stealing. It is only those whose sensibilities 
are dulled from the habit of wrong doing, who 
can call it anything else. In times of great 
depression of business, when monied difficul- 



CARE. 227 

ties come to all. it is very perplexing, often, to 
know the right. 

Many good people will begin to contract 
their expenses at the wrong end; the demands 
of the Church and charity are unheeded, while 
self-indulgence in dress, food, and luxuries is 
kept up as before. Reduce these expenses to 
their lowest level before you rob God of His 
tithes and offerings. Commit your way, fully, 
unto the Lord, and implore His constant guid- 
ance in all your arrangements; look upon each 
success as coming directly from Him and to be 
received with grateful thanksgiving. 

If you have the management of charitable 
institutions, heed the same scriptural maxim, 
"Owe no man anything." If God does not give 
you the means, and if, when you have used all 
right and energetic methods of obtaining them, 
the money is still lacking, the burden of care, 
which the pressure of debt will bring, is more 
than it is right for you to bear. Exercise a 
rigid supervision of accounts, that you may not 
become responsible without your knowledge. 
All over the country the sad spectacle is seen, 
of churches struggling beneath heavy liabilities, 



A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

which should never have been contracted, and 
whose energies are paralyzed by the pressure. 

It is a blessed privilege to aid in building 
material temples for the Lord of Hosts, and to 
make beautiful His sanctuary, the place where 
His honor dwelleth; but it must be justly and 
honorably done. We have no right to offer 
anything but our own to the Lord; and a costly 
building, erected at the expense of the unpaid 
laborer, is not acceptable to the God of truth 
and right. It is only a long and weary struggle 
that can remove such a debt, and the heavy 
incubus of care it brings upon rector and 
people. 

Heaven-sent care is blessed; it will not press 
down beyond the given strength to endure; but 
that which we needlessly bring upon ourselves 
is, indeed, a heavy load, and everywhere you see 
way worn faces that tell of its weight. Do not 
think too much of your burden, but learn how 
to control mental pain as you do physical 
suffering; and gild the darkened present by 
eagerly looking forward to that 

•'Sweet and blessed country, 

The paradise of joy, 
Where tears are ever banished, 

And smiles have no alloy." 



LETTER XXV, 

DKESS. 

"Pilgrims who travel in the narrow way, 
Should go as little cumbered as they may." 

XF I understand your question aright, dear 

1 L , it is not the abstract one of how 

much care, thought, time, and money any 
Christian woman may devote to dress: but how 
much is consistent for you in giving up yourself 
to a life of service. ''The unmarried woman 
careth for the things of the Lord, that she may 
be holy, both in body and in spirit;" but she 
that "is married, careth for the things of the 
world, how she may please her husband." 

A due attention to tasteful dress is one of 
these things which a wise matron will never 
neglect. While "she stretcheth out her hand to 
the poor, giveth meat to her household, and a 
portion to her maidens.'* "she maketh herself 



230 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

coverings of tapestry, and her clothing is silk 
and purple." But to accomplish this, it is 
recorded of that good wife, "she riseth also 
while it is yet night," and "her candle goeth 
not out by night." 

If you have plenty of money and can order 
fashionable dresses, ready-made from the shops, 
you may find time to wear them without 
neglecting other duties; but limited incomes 
will not admit of this expenditure, and it 
requires careful thought to adapt and arrange 
unsuitable materials to the ever-changing forms 
decreed by the latest style. "Ich dien" (I 
serve) is the motto worn beneath the three 
feathers of a royal house; and all the incidents 
of life must be arranged to carry out that 
legend fully. 

Your dress must be serviceable, suitable, 
inexpensive, and unobtrusive. As you expect 
to brave all winds and weathers, you must wear 
warm, though light garments, in winter. You 
cannot afford the time and strength required to 
manage a train in the street, or the risk to 
cleanliness and neatness; so you must disregard 
fashion there. A few minutes will often be all 



DRESS. 231 

the time you can use in which to change your 
garments, so that they must be simple in form, 
and not encumbered by heavy flounces and 
trimmings. 

"The King's business,** now. as in the days 
of old. often requireth "haste," and if you wear 
elaborate decorations they will constantly be in 
your way. Flounces entangle the hasty feet, 
catch upon the furniture, add unnecessary 
weight to the skirt, and require much time for 
their suitable arrangement. A good rule is to 
wear the simplest garment you can, without 
attracting attention. 

I was once deeply interested in an argument 
between two pious orthodox Friends. Of equal 
intelligence and philanthropy, and giving their 
time and wealth freely to advance the welfare of 
their fellows, one wore the plain dress in beau- 
tiful perfection, and the other ordered her dresses 
ready made, with some regard to the simplest 
fashion of the day. The conversation began by 
the latter, saying, as if resuming a former discus- 
sion: "My dear friend S . I was driving 

rapidly past the mountain hotel, when thy dress 
caught my eye, conspicuous among the gaily 



232 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

dressed ladies on the piazza; and I thought that 
surely no one but thee could have the hardihood 
to be so different from everyone else." 

Very good humoredly they discussed the 

matter. D said that "a plain dress appeared 

as if inviting attention to the wearer, as saying: 
'See how good I am; I wear such an ugly 
bonnet, and such a short, scant skirt; I never 
indulge in any colors but soft grays, dark 
browns, or silky drabs. True, it takes a long- 
time to find them, and their fine texture is 
expensive; but everyone knows that I am a 
standing protest against the folly of fashion and 
extravagance in dress.' .... But, by placing 
thyself upon such a pinnacle of superiority, 
thou marrest thy influence, or, at least, dost 
restrict it to the narrow bounds of our own 
society." 

I was much interested in noticing the two 
Friends brought together in a crowded place of 

summer resort in the mountains. "Friend S " 

was loved by a few who treasured her words of 
wisdom, and rejoiced in the loveliness of charac- 
ter hidden under her plain exterior; but "Friend 
D " was the chosen guide and counsellor of 






DRESS. 233 

the whole house. The college boys confided 
their perplexities to her, and many a gaily- 
dressed lady told her of the cares that pressed 
heavily upon her. To all, her happy spirit, 
broad sympathy, and earnest goodness were 
most attractive, and the sentiment of the house- 
hold was expressed by an outspoken youth, who 
said: ;; I never knew before that a Quaker 
could be so charming!" 

The spirit of one of Warwick's aphorisms is 
what we must regard in such a case, and 
remember, "that Plato possessed his rich bed 
with less pride than Diogenes trampled upon it." 
Dress simply, because it requires less time, 
thought, and money, and be careful to bestow all 
you thus gain upon active service for others. 
Fashionable dressing is generally prejudicial to 
health. The tightly-fitting garments contract 
the delicate organs of the chest, impede the 
circulation, and prevent the limbs from enjoying 
the graceful action which nature prompts. 
Sometimes the despotic monarch, known as 
"Style," decrees that we must wear no extra 
wrappings when we go out from a heated room 
into the piercing cold of winter; and coughs, 



234 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

and, perhaps, rapid consumption follow quickly 
in the wake, to the obedient devotee to this 
cruel tyrant. This is sinful tampering with the 
laws of health, and comes within range of the 
Sixth Commandment. 

The constant change which fashion requires, 
consumes time and thought; and, if you consult 
health, modesty, comfort, convenience, and 
economy, you will avoid much of this trouble. 
Be careful not to judge people by their dress, 
or, in the language of the quaint Warwick: 
"value the worthiness of the wearer by the 
worth of his apparel. Adam was most gallantly 
apparelled when he was innocently naked." 

If, in obedience to the wishes of others, you, 
at suitable times, wear rich clothing, be careful 
to lay it aside when you are engaged in your 
religious duties. Dress plainly in the Sunday 
School, and in the House of God; not only lest 

'•The Sunday garment, glittering gay, 
The Sunday heart will steal away," 

but, that your example may encourage others to 
do the same; and that poor persons may not feel 
themselves out of place amid the gaily dressed 
throng. "My House shall be called a House of 






DRESS. 235 

Prayer for all people." yet thousands are kept 
from their Father's earthly habitation, because 
they cannot dress as well as the majority who 
worship there. 

Cleanliness, neatness, sobriety, and taste can 
govern your toilette in poverty as in wealth; 
and the money that the elaborate wardrobe 
would cost, in the latter case, may be devoted 
to the claims of the needy. A generous-hearted 
girl whom we knew, whose father gave her a 
liberal monthly allowance for dress, was accus- 
tomed to share it equally with a friend, who was 
the daughter of a struggling widow, and both had 
neat and comfortable clothing to enjoy together 
This was true affection and unselfish considera- 
tion, and I wish the spirit were more common. 

If you are tempted to make an extravagant 
purchase, consider if you have given to God not 
only His tenth, but have made free-will offerings 
for adorning His Sanctuary, and spreading 
abroad the joyful tidings of salvation. Is there 
no struggling parish you can aid, after you have 
considered the claims of your own? Is your 
rector placed above the harrowing care that 
insufficient means bring to one, whose position 



236 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

calls upon him to exercise, constantly, the duty 
of hospitality? Learn, then, to deny yourself, 
that you may render his burden less onerous; 
and you will wear your simple dress in quiet 
content, when its simplicity has brought relief 
to a friend. 

To purchase a handsome costume, when you 
cannot pay for it at once, is a risk of principle. 
One expensive article will lead to another to 
correspond, until, with little difficulty, large 
sums of money are expended in apparel. 

Thus arrayed are the human butterflies, who 
never have a penny to spare for others' needs; 
whose jeweled fingers never cast any of their 
burdens into the treasury of the Lord. They 
are up early in the morning that they may gain 
time for the elaborate decorations that encom- 
pass them; and their own life, and that of those 
dependent upon them, is saddened by the care 
they bestow upon their outward adornment. 

Dress makes much unhappiness in these 
days of extravagant living, and depressed 
finances. Everywhere the careworn mother is 
overworked to satisfy the demands of would-be 



DRESS, 237 

fashionable children; and peevishness, discon- 
tent, envy, and jealousy constantly embitter the 
life of home. The one-seventh of time that is 
God's portion, is too often used to arrange and 
discuss the carefully prepared dress, and the 
heart is filled with the pomps and vanities of 
the worJd it has solemnly promised to renounce. 



LETTER XXVI, 

DELICACY. 

"Besides what is strictly called Duty, there are some 
things not determined by precise rules, but which are • 

nevertheless prescribed by delicacy. Here definitions 
fail and moral sentiment must enlighten us. What 
precepts cannot provide for, will be inspired by that 
instinct of a generous heart, which is surer than all 
precepts." Degerando. 

MNOWING you to be gifted truly with a 
generous heart, whose instincts will teach 
you much, I am sure you do not need any 
"precepts" on the subject suggested by your 
last letter. You tell me of a friend, whose 
manners society calls good, whose intellect is 
superior, and whose character, in many points, 
is congenial; but who is constantly giving and 
receiving offense, the cause of which you 
cannot understand. I think it will be found in 
the want of delicacy, that "flower of justice" 
whose sweet perfume lends a rare grace to the 
actions, and sheds harmony over discordant 
elements. 






DELICACY. 239 

Perhaps there is no one quality more desir- 
able in a constant companion, than that quick 
perception of what is painful to a friend, and of 
the subjects which annoy and irritate; and which 
discerns at once the bounds of reserve which 
should never be passed. You will sometimes 
see members of the same family strikingly 
deficient in this admirable qimlity; and, in the 
presence of strangers, with a singular want of 
propriety, they will bring forward many of the 
little peculiarities of their relatives, hold them 
up to ridicule, laugh at them, and seem to find 
a malicious satisfaction in revealing that which 
every feeling of refinement would scrupulously 
conceal. One would think that family pride 
would teach the opposite course, even if delicacy 
were unknown. 

A husband, whose native coarseness is thinly 
veiled by the usages of polite society, will tell 
you various little circumstances about his wife, 
which his obtuseness considers amusing; and 
you are obliged to sit by and calmly hold your 
peace, while this torture is being inflicted on a 
sensitive nature. The banter may be good 
humored, but it contains a hidden sting; and if 



240 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

you cannot actively express your disapprobation, 
at least, let your silence signify disapproval. 

Two very intimate friends, in visiting together, 
will wholly consume the time by thus torment- 
ing each other; and while you would imagine 
such conduct would make them bitter foes, they 
consider it a test of friendship, and will tell you 
gaily, after a protracted skirmish of this kind, 

"E does not, in the least, mind what I say to 

her !" 

In your intercourse with poor people, study 
all the requirements of delicacy as scrupulously 
as you do in your own circle of friends. Justice 
teaches us regard for the rights of others, and 
delicacy gives true insight into hidden thoughts 
and feelings which will prevent you from 
wounding them. Observe little things as tests 
of character, and never fall into the rude habits 
which often prevail where you might expect 
more refinement. In the intimacy of confiden- 
tial friendship, many things will come to your 
knowledge which you must consider as a sacred 
trust, and never, by word or look, betray them. 
In caring for the sick in other people's houses, 
you are necessarily admitted to an acquaintance 



DELICACY. 241 

with much that is concealed from the world: 
veil your eyes, and your thoughts, even, and 
refuse to admit the sights. 

Who has not appreciated the rare delicacy 
of clergymen and physicians, who see human 
nature with its armour off. while going into 
families when illness and sorrow have broken 
down the ordinary defences? This reserve 
deepens the delicacy that produces it: and 
though the annals of medicine have been 
disgraced by an Abernethy. who prided himself 
upon his brutality and coarseness, high-toned 
courtesy and unaffected refinement are the 
characteristics of the noble profession of 
healing. Some of the most perfect gentlemen 
I have ever seen, have been physicians; and 
their delicacy of perception makes their services 
invaluable when illness deepens the sensitive- 
ness of every nerve, and pain and fever render 
mental suffering acute. 

"The heart is wise:" and. if we follow its 
dictates, we shall learn to make the happiness of 
those we love, by patient study of their tastes, 
habits, and dispositions. It is easy for a friendly 



242 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

eye to see a coming blow, and by patient kind- 
ness deprive it of its force; and then, with true 
delicacy of feeling, to stand out of sight. 

The same tenderness may suggest to others 
little offices of affection, that may come with a 
better grace from them, and be more acceptable 
to the recipient than if you yourself rendered 
them. The charity that "vaunteth not itself 
.... and seeketh not her own," is fruitful in 
suggesting ways and means for true delicacy of 
feeling to manifest itself. 

The world is full of sorrow; everywhere pale 
mourners weep over the graves where lie buried 
their dearest earthly treasures; or, sadder still, 
fond hearts grieve over those who have strayed 
from the path of right, and live forgetful of God 
and duty. Sickness impairs all faculties of 
usefulness, and the energetic nature, which 
would find delight in toiling, must be content 
to see others move the weight its feeble strength 
cannot grapple. 

Upon many gifted spirits is laid a strange, 
mysterious burden of unrest; 

"Sweet bells jangled, and out of tune," 



DELICACY. 243 

destroy their harmony with themselves and the 
world about them. Let us recognize these weary 
ones, and share and sympathise with their sad- 
ness, if we cannot brighten and remove it. 

It is a supreme effort of unselfishness to 
delicately provide for tastes you cannot under- 
stand, to soothe fears that seem to you cowardly; 
to answer doubts that are childish, to repeat 
information on subjects that do not interest 
you, and patiently remove all causes of mur- 
muring from the path of the discontented and 
fretful; to learn where silence is the best, and 
kindest answer to reproaches, and where it but 
adds fuel to the flame; and. when the "golden" 
spell must be broken, how to softly attune the 
"silvern" speech to the needs of an exacting 
and undisciplined nature. 

It is hard 

" to strive 

Against one hasty word, one selfish mood 

And gentle still to be, and kind, and good, 
In the world's rugged warfare; in the jar 

Of ill-according spirits, in the mass 
Of beings, where our daily duties are," 

but the effort is ennobling, and the earnestness 
of the aspiration and prayer for strength, to 



244 A LIFE 01 E 

Sim from whom alone it can be obtained 

ard. 
The little amenil ies, and mil 

"fal] |j; on the heart." From a 

disregard of them, has sprung ien< 

truth of the old j . that "tl 

large enough to contai ' and a 

constant and scrupulous of the n 

thai delicacy prescribes, has made happy hou 
oui of seemingly incongruous elements. 

A party of ten persons were once travelling 
quiei and thoughtful politei 
to each othe atle 

the centre to whom all >\n<\ 

hy a common tie; she was Lifted from the 
carriage to the railway car by a stalwart n 
emed to find ite tendei 
ion in caring for her; and each member 
of the party, in some anobl 
efficiently provided for ber comfort. 

Our destination chanced to be the same; 
and we learned afterwards to recognize in that 
fragile woman one of the world's strong, heroic 
spirits. She came, a wealthy widow,— into a 






DELICA< V. *.! 15 

Family where not one of the inmi - related 

ties of consanguinity; but were a mother, 
ter-in-law, and adopted orphans. Hermonej 
she used freely to make everj one comfortable; 
she studied their ta* ftened their disposi- 

tions by ber gentleness, and. as her son-in-law 
d, "for fourteen years made their home an 
i blj paradise; not a discordant word is e 
spoken ther< 

\ v she? as si ro l> dj ing of mortal dise 
but, courageous to the last, was pleasing ber 
friends bj travelling in the vain bope of relief, 
and keeping them all bappj and useful aboul 
her. 

We found here the "Records of a Quiet 
Life," like that of the Hares of Burstmonceaux, 
and a Maria Leycester in an humbler station. 
Each was a bond of anion between men and 
women of widely differing natures, diffusing 
something of her own sweetness over them all; 
and, bj her delicate perceptions, reading aright 

h \ arying range of thought, and instinctivelj 
ai erting all causes i >f discord. 

The one whom her adopted son. and biog- 
pher, calls "the central figure <>f the pictui 



246 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

— Mrs. Augustus Hare — : ruled in that most 
beautiful type of a true home, an English 
rectory. At Alton and Hurstmonceaux, her 
high breeding, devout culture, and earnest 
thought, brought about her the first minds of 
the age; and their intellectual, social, and 
religious life, is deeply interesting. Our friend 
was the wife of a lumberman on the great lakes, 
who owned large tracts of forest land, swept by 
the cold, northern breezes there. 

Native good sense, and earnest piety, aided 
by genuine delicacy of character, taught her 
the rare w T isdom she displayed in her family, 
and made her one of the world's ruling spirits. 

"When gentleness with strength we find, 
The tender with the sweet combined, 

The harmony is sweet and strong." 

While delicacy has open eyes for all the good 
traits of others, and loves to develop and men- 
tion them, it treads with veiled lids amid their 
defects and failings. It will cover with the 
flowers of affection, many an unsightly gap, and 
with graceful forbearance, bring, what Milton 
calls the "thousand decencies'" of life, to fill up 
its waste places. 



LETTER XXVII. 

CONVERSATION. 

"It is not wisdom in itself, ic is the manner of 
imparting it, that affects the soul, and alone deserves 
the name of eloquence." Landor. 

"In general it is a proof of high culture to say the 
greatest matters in the simplest way. " 

Emerson. 

JT is not conversation as a fine art, and a 
means of acquiring great influence in 
society, to which you ask me to direct your 
thoughts; but the speech of the good woman, 
who "openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in 
whose tongue is the law of kindness." 

This can come alone out of "the abundance 
of the heart;** but careful thought can guide 
its flow aright, and, by understanding the 
mighty power of words for good or evil, we 
learn to restrain the idle ones, and improve the 
opportunities, that come to all, of sending out 
the "ambassador of the mind** on errands of 
love and mercy. 



248 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

There are times when politeness requires 
that we should speak; and conversation will 
divert sad thoughts, and direct them to Him 
who can bring the brightness of heaven to 
illuminate and dispel their sadness. We must 
speak truly; and to unite truth with kindness 
we must drive out prejudice, and cherish only 
good feelings toward everyone; so that the 
gentle interest we manifest in words, is really 
the sincere expression of our hearts. 

We must understand that conversation is 
not monologue, and the happy art of listening 
well is essential to its success. Use the simplest 
words that adapt themselves to daily need, and 
do not suppose that high sounding phrases show 
wisdom or learning. The really wise and 
learned rarely use them in ordinary speech; 
and you are very apt to give a wrong pronun- 
ciation, accent, or meaning, when you attempt 
sonorous sentences and unfamiliar words in 
ordinary conversation. 

You wish to understand the disposition and 
thoughts of those about you, that you may 
know best how to serve them; and, to do this, 






CONVERSATION . 249 

you must encourage them to trust in your sym- 
pathy, and express themselves freely in your 
presence. A care is often lightened by sharing 
it with a friend, and a cloud dissipated by 
calmly discussing it. This is a case in which 
the wise one will tell you, "love with labour 
grew, and patient use brought skill," and it is a 
noble thing to make any grace, and gift of 
speech you may acquire, the means of soothing, 
lightening, and, perhaps, healing, the sorrow T of 
others. 

It requires a well-disciplined mind to bring- 
out its treasures of old and new, and mould 
them into harmonious speech. Chaos is sel- 
dom interesting, though it may contain in its 
bosom the rudiments of much that is good and 
great. But careful education, good sense, fine 
taste, delicate discrimination, and right feeling, 
must preside over agreeable conversation. The 
first teaches us what to say. the second when to 
say it, and the others how to make the saying- 
free from offence to others. 

You may think this is too serious a view to 
take of ordinary conversation, which is often 
used to prevent awkwardness, or cover embar- 



250 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

rassment when people meet; and that to be 
continually thinking whether it is right to 
express this feeling, or best to restrain that 
emotion, would produce stiffness and unpleasant 
reserve. 

To study our words seems pompous, or con- 
ceited, and to justify the remark of a shrewd 
foreigner, who said of the Americans: " What- 
ever they say, has a little the air of making a 
speech." It is not such conversation that you 
need cultivate; but the happy art of speaking 
the word "in due season," saying good, kind 
and true things in an unaffected way. You are 
"to convert all impediments into instruments, 
all enemy into power," and make all the 
resources of your mind and education tributary 
to the purpose. 

To speak rightly, you must feel rightly, and 
be careful to drive away bitter thoughts lest 
they may tinge your speech. Sometimes a 
family will allow their conversation to show the 
envy, prejudice, and uncharitableness which 
reign in their hearts; and if they are people of 
intellect and position, their example may be 
contagious enough to affect a whole community. 



CONVERSATION. 251 

Iii every channel into which the conversation 

may drift with them, you are startled by a sneer 
of exciting bitterness: and you leave their 
company, saddened by the dimness they have 
cast over many of your cherished projects. 

Striving for effect often produces this. 
Some persons define wit as sharp retorts and 
bitter comments; and others, without stopping 
to analyze their sayings, repeat them as happy 
thoughts. There is a sunny fancy that can play 
the speech, and a merry humor that can 
extract honey from the jaws of the lion: but it 
never sends out steel barbed arrows, or mingles 
vinegar and gall with "the Samaritan's oil on 
the wounds." 

The wise man of the Proverbs says: in 
"'many words there art- divers vanities:" and 
if you talk a great deal, your conversation will 
this. "The words of the wise are as 
g : ds. and as nails fastened by the master of 
Lssemblies;" wherefore, "let thy words be few," 
If you acquire the reputation of being a great 
talker in the usual sense of pouring forth a 
volume of words, it will restrict your influence: 
few will listen, and those who do will feel such 



252 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

weariness from the effort, that they can hardly 
benefit by your counsels. Good judgment is 
seldom more strikingly displayed than in finding 
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 
and in understanding that "the words of wise 
men are heard in quiet." 

The great deeds of the world have often been 
prompted by these few words of wisdom; 
whispered softly, they have had power to stir 
the blood and rouse the men of action from the 
seeming lethargy that has enveloped them. But 
it is "the little, constant sunbeams, not the 
lightning; the waters of Siloam that go softly 
on the meek mission of refreshment, not the 
waters of the river, great and mighty, rushing 
down on the torrent's noise and force," that are 
"the words that prompt the deed," and which 
Schiller urges women to cultivate. 

Conversation, not to become wearisome, must 
dwell little upon personal details, unless they 
are specially requested by a friend. The long- 
stories that are so tedious in the repetition, are 
generally about some insignificant affair of no 
particular consequence to anybody; and when 
you have heard to weariness of what "he said" 



CONVERSATION. 253 

and "she said" about it, you wonder that 
immortal beings can stoop to fill their minds 
with such trifles. 

Some carry their fondness for useless 
matters far back into the past, and will entertain 
you by an account of their grand-parents' taste 
and fancies; their "great aunt could never eat 
bacon,'- or "their father's family all wore their 
hats upon one side.*' You may think this 
exaggerated, but I have known people, who. 
"from morn till dewy eve,"' will talk of such 
things, and never, by any chance, give you an 
item of valuable information. 

The "Conversation classes," that are now so 
fashionable, may assist ready speakers to choose 
their words with precision and taste, and 
encourage the timid to clothe their thoughts in 
suitable expressions; but they are apt to degen- 
erate by the discussion of impractical and 
useless subjects, and lead to affectation and 
pedantry. The best way to prevent this, is to 
let law and order reign here, as elsewheie, and 
confine the conversation to the set subject. 

"Current Events classes" can be made most 
interesting, if they are told without heat and 



254 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

partisanship. Let one person be the leader for 
the evening with a prepared succession of 
topics; and each member in turn contribute one 
unmentioned event in the week's happenings, 
after the leader has finished. In one such class 
that was successfully carried on for years, each 
member took a country for a subject, and under 
the guidance of the leader, gave an account of 
the events happening therein. After our own 
country was finished, England, France, Spain, 
Scandinavia, Italy, Russia, the Islands of the 
sea and other countries, were called in turn by 
their representatives; and the evenings were all 
too short for the pleasure they afforded. 

Clothing religious feeling in a set form of 
words in conversation, and using them without 
understanding their deep meaning, produces 
that most offensive thing — "cant", — which 
disgusts so many persons, and drives them away 
from the society of those who use it. Mrs. 
Child gives some excellent advice in this con- 
nection: "Be true to thyself in religious 
utterance, or remain forever silent. Speak only 
according to thine own genuine inward experi- 
ence; and look well to it, that thou repeatest no 



CONVERSATION. 255 

phrase prescribed by creeds, or familiarly used 
by sects, unless that phrase conveys some truth 
into thine own soul." Excellent women 
often do great injury to the cause they love, by 
talking much of matters they do not fully 
understand; and forms of words will roll glibly 
from their tongues, ready to be caught up and 
ridiculed by ungodly associates. 

The influence of truly good and devout 
clergymen has often been seriously impaired, by 
the indiscreet conversation of women who were 
really their friends; and I think you will find it 
a good rule, never to make him whom God has 
placed over you in your parish, a theme of 
ordinary discussion. Accept his teachings 
where they are in harmony with the word of 
God and the testimony of the undivided 
Church, with meekness, and practice them in 
your life; but do not publicly criticise them 
and make them a topic of conversation. 

Hasten to correct any injurious reports that 
may be spread abroad about clergymen; their 
position exposes them to such, and a few hasty 
words may kindle a great fire. Observe Ember 
Days faithfully — the four seasons when we pray 



256 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

for the clergy — that the seven-fold gifts of the 
Spirit may be imparted to them. This 

"Blessed unction from above 
Is comfort, light and fire of love," 

and you may look for this to come upon them 
in answer to prayer. 

Be very careful in your speech in drawing 
near, or coming from, the House of God; and 
let the reverence you have manifested there 
quiet your look and manner, and restrain any 
exuberance of natural spirit. Many an affecting 
service and solemn sermon have lost their 
power over a heart touched by the Comforter, 
from the idle comment and the unkind criticism 
which some good, but mistaken, woman has 
made upon it. This seems a peculiar fashion 
in some small places, where, as soon as the 
services are over, a babel of tongues will be 
unloosed, and everyone seems to think it 
necessary to say something about them; and I 
am sorry to record that captious, and even cruel, 
criticism is the rule. 

A clergyman once overheard a lady 
make some bitter allusion to his opinions, in 
reply to a friend who said she was deeply 



CONVERSATION. 257 

impressed by his earnestness, eloquence and 
godly life. He turned to her and said, 
''Madame, you are a religious woman, but whose 
work are you doing now? Is it God's friend 
who takes His word from the tender soil, or is 
it the devil's?" Think of this when you speak 
of holy things; and pray "that in simplicity and 
godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by 
the grace of God,"' you may have your •'conver- 
sation in the world." 

St. Paul exhorted the believers to "only let 
your conversation be as becometh the gospel of 
Christ." St. James says, "Let him show out 
of a good conversation his works with meekness 
of wisdom:*' "the wisdom that is from above is 
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be 
entreated:'* and St. Peter urges, "But as He 
which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all 
manner of conversation,*- that those without 
"may be won*' by it to the word of truth. The 
promise is. "To him that ordereth his conver- 
sation aright, will I show the salvation of God.** 



LETTER XXVIII. 

GOSSIP. 

"Believe not each accusing tongue, 

As most weak persons do; 
But still believe that story wrong 

"Which ought not to be true." 

Sheridan. 

"When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody will 
believe them." Plato. 

XT requires nice powers of perception to define 
•**- the delicate boundaries between conversa- 
tion and gossip, and a happy tact to gracefully 
check its flow when it is nearing the dividing- 
line. When w r e love a person, all his joys and 
sorrows interest us, and the events of his daily 
life are to us, matters of deep concern. When 
these are open to the eyes of the world, w T e can 
but hear the communication with sympathetic 
emotion; but there is a sacredness in all strong 
feeling that prompts us to make little comment 



gossip. 259 

upon them to indifferent people, and to be 
tender and watchful in approaching the subject 
with friends. 

An old writer gives us three sieves to use in 
our speech about others, and warns us not to 
allow our tongues to utter anything that will 
not pass through them all: "Is it true, is it 
kind, is it necessary?'- Many items of infor- 
mation that may be true, it is very unkind and 
wholly unnecessary to repeat. It is not always 
easy to find out what is the actual amount of 
credibility to be given to any statement; the 
position and prejudice of the witness is so apt 
to color the narrative, and so many circum- 
stances affect the estimate which is made of it, 
that it needs the training of an acute lawyer to 
disentangle the truth from the mass of incohe- 
rent testimony. 

Do not, therefore, believe evil of any one, 
unless your understanding is fully convinced of 
it; and do not allow your likes and dislikes of 
a person to influence you unduly. An indi- 
vidual may be wanting in tact, forgetful of 
good manners, and careless and selfish to such 
a degree that you shrink from all association 



260 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

with him; but he may be innocent of the 
grosser offences society will be quick to believe 
of him. Love will make you careful only to 
yield to strong conviction before believing ill of 
a friend; and justice will exercise the same 
office in weighing evidence against strangers. 

There are so many high and noble things in 
nature, in art, in religion, in life, and in books, 
for subjects of conversation, there are so many 
needful consultations with the wise, practical 
and good, as to the best ways of serving others, 
that it seems as if only a vacant mind could find 
leisure for gossip. But it is not always so; 
habit is very strong, and men and women of a 
high degree of intellectual development, will 
use their powers to adorn their stories with the 
braveries of wit, and render its sting more 
poisonous and lasting, from being clothed in 
striking phrases. 

The temptation w T ill come to you even in 
your life of service; for, unfortunately, there is 
such a thing as religious gossip, and your 
intimate knowledge of other people's concerns, 
acquired in your ministrations among them, 
may render you a sort of authority in such 



gossip. 261 

matters. Be very sure that it is necessary 
before you use this knowledge, and that the 
good gained by thus using it, is greater than 
the evil resulting from your breaking the fixed 
rule of guarding your speech, lest you betray 
confidence. You may know that your friend. 
or patient, has doubts concerning some of the 
articles of the Christian faith, the efficacy of 
the Sacraments, or the power of prayer. It is 
neither right, nor kind, to mention this indis- 
criminately; but you may, confidentially, tell 
some discreet ;; minister of God's Word,*' that 
he may be able, in private or public, to answer 
this doubt, and establish the Scriptural view of 
the Sacraments and prayer. 

Some communities are iDarticularly noted for 
the amount of gossip that is circulated in them: 
and it is often sufficient to disprove a story, to 

say that it originated in B . Villages are 

supposed to be peculiarly liable to this failing; 
but I think that it is likely to be more harmless 
than that of cities. In small places the whole 
community live in the eyes of the rest, and a 
false report is soon disproved by circumstances. 
But in large places intercourse is limited, and 



262 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

months sometimes pass without bringing togeth- 
er members of a large circle, so that the subtle 
untruth has time to work its cruel way uncon- 
tradicted. 

At country tea parties, or formal dinners, 
you seldom hear anything more formidable said 
by way of gossip, than, "Mr. D. is paying 
attention to Miss A; he walked home from 
Church with her last Sunday;" or, "Mr. C, is 
going to be married for the third time; how 
shocking!" But in cities more serious charges 
often are brought against absent friends, and 
stories ruinous to their reputations are circulated 
without knowing, or caring, for their truth or 
falsehood. And to "round a period or adorn a 
tale," clever, witty, but often wicked things, are 
said of others. 

Be very careful not to give any food for 
gossip yourself, by a circumspect, guarded, 
demeanor; do not laugh or talk loudly any 
where, but particularly on the street, and in 
public places; and do not, if possible to avoid it, 
stand conversing there. Be quiet and reverent, 
in your necessary intercourse with the clergy; 
recollect that careless words and acts have often 



gossip. 263 

marred the life and influence of a priest of 
God. An unfounded slander preyed upon the 
spirits of a brilliant young Churchman, whose 
opening career was full of promise; and led to 
early madness, and a suicide ? s death. An 
elderly lady in the place where it occurred, 

said: " It all began with that poor Miss H ; 

she is really so silly as to be hardly responsible, 
but she would always keep her clergyman 
talking to her upon the street corners, and her 
senseless laugh there attracted much attention." 
If you should be so unfortunate as to be a 
subject of gossip, let it teach you wisdom, and 
"one heavenward little step — humility." 
Bonaventure gives most excellent advice in 
such a case that you cannot think of too often. 
"Be" not angry with those that speak ill of you; 
for either what they say of you is true or false; 
if it is true, you must not wonder that they dare 
say what you dare do; if it is false, their detrac- 
tion can do yon no harm. But if, notwithstand- 
ing, any motion of anger should arise, repress 
it, and suffer all with patience, as one suffers 
the fire when applied to a wound; for as the 
fire heals the wound, even so the detraction you 



264 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

suffer will perhaps cure of some secret pride, 
which for sometime you have entertained and 
taken pleasure in." 

While the busy tongues of mischief-makers 
are speaking ill of you, be very patient and 
meek, and never return railing for railing. Be 
quiet and confident that, in the Lord's own good 
time and way, He "shall make thy righteousness 
as clear as the light, and thy just dealing as the 
noonday." This quietness, meekness, and sure 
trust in the Lord, is a death-blow to false 
speaking; and when the trial has served the 
purpose God has seen necessary to your soul's 
health, it is generally withdrawn. But let the 
pain it causes teach you to be very careful in 
believing and repeating such gossip of others. 
Reputation is a fragile thing, and a stone 
thrown against it is perilous. Even " the 
crushed flower will leave a stain" that subse- 
quent tears and penitence cannot wipe out. 

Be very careful in speaking of religious 
things, that you do not adopt a light and 
gossiping tone. You will hear the most elevat- 
ing themes mentioned in such careless speech 
that at first you are shocked; and really good 






gossip. 265 

women will rattle off a list of church services, 
retreats. " Quiet days,'* and " Missions" they 
have attended, as gaily as if they were concerts 
or balls. Do not, if possible, mention such 
things before indifferent people, and do not 
speak of popular clergymen in tones of extrava- 
gant and fulsome eulogy, nor praise their per- 
sonal qualities, such as their voice, their smiles, 
gesture, or appearance. If the Spirit of God 
is with them, their ministrations will be blessed; 
but, many a worldly man has been disgusted 
and kept from partaking of this blessing, by 
the excessive praise that has been bestowed 
upon the ministering clergy, and the indiscreet 
attentions of unwise women. 

God has committed the ministry of His Word 
and Sacraments to men, liable, without the help 
of His grace, to all the failings and limitations of 
our race. They must toil for wisdom, and pay 
the bitter price experience exacts for its les- 
sons; they, like others, must 

11 learn in Him; 

And through patient suffering, teach 
The secret of enduring strength 
And praise too deep for speech." 

Shall not all Christian people sympathize 
with the pupils in this high school, and wait for 



266 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

the peaceable fruits of righteousness that are 
brought us by those commissioned to teach 
from above? 

In quiet rectories, often unknown and 
unnoticed by the world, lives of humble and 
self-sacrificing devotion are being led, of which 
the world is not worthy. By most rigid econ- 
omy, only, is the wolf kept from the door, while 
the inmates give themselves freely to the Lord; 
visiting the sick and afflicted, teaching the 
lambs of the flock, keeping the fires of the altar 
burning fresh and bright, and, by tender sym- 
pathy for all suffering, making their light to 
shine often amid surrounding worldiness. Pray 
for all who are called to any office and adminis- 
tration in the Church, that they may be replen- 
ished with the truth of God's doctrine, and 
endued with "innocency of life;" but let their 
lives and homes be safe from the scourge of 
gossijnng tongues, and the broad shield of loving 
charity be thrown over all they do or say. 

Augustus W. Hare, in reply to some 
complaint that had been made in relation to 

feeble ministration in a church at L said: 

"It is one of the advantages of our good Church 



gossip. 267 

that we. (meaning by "we" he educated) are 
only very partially dependent on the qualifica- 
tions of the Minister. If he can read, and most 
clergymen can do that much, he must read the 
liturgy; all his stupidity, if he be stupid, all his 
carelessness, if he be careless, cannot unmake 
that into anything unscriptural or undevotional. 
As to the sermon, Herbert has said enough 
about that; you know Who, according to him, 
when the preacher is incapable, takes up the 
text and preaches patience/' 



LETTEK XXIX. 

MISTAKES. 

"And yet a child learns to walk by falling down. 
All that we learn that is worth learning, we learn by our 
own mistakes. We value nothing that is freely given to 
us. " Fouch. 

"Next to the folly of doing a bad thing, is that of 
fearing to undo it. " Friends in Council. 

X DO not think that you should give way to 
-1- feelings of discouragement, and the incli- 
nation to pause in your life's work because, as 
you say, you "make so many mistakes." This is 
a necessary consequence of all human effort, and 
our best learning is that which is deeply im- 
pressed upon our minds in consequence of 
these very failures. Only be careful to take 
heed to the lesson, ponder the cause of the 
error, and avoid it in future. 

Some mistakes are from our own want of 
judgment, and the result of heedlessness and 



MISTAKES. 269 

inattention. Ruskin says: "We are not sent 
into this world to do anything into which we 
cannot put our hearts;" and our work i; is to be 
done heartily," not ;i by halves or shifts, but 
with a will; and what is not worth this effort is 
not to be done at all." 

Some make constant mistakes from want of 
thoroughness which hearty work gives. They 
cannot look into details; and they have a care- 
less impression that it will all come out right 
somehow, whether it is well managed or not. 
" To err is human," but such a course is full of 
error. Guard against it by praying 

" Heaven for firmness thy whole soul to bind 
To this thy purpose — to begin, pursue, 
With thoughts all fixed, and feelings purely kind, 
Strength to complete, and with delight review, 
And grace to give the praise where all is ever due." 

Unless you have this steady eye and firm 
resolve, you tread a path whose uncertainty will 
cause many faltering steps, much blind stumb- 
ling, and, perhaps, many grievous mistakes. 
But I am sure you are fully persuaded of the 
right; and the failures you lament are in the 
execution, not in the intention. You hear it 



270 A LIFE OF SEKVIOE. 

said constantly, in excuse for strange inconsis- 
tencies which stain the name of Christian, 
*'He is a good man, but oh! so mistaken!' 7 
What is the secret worm which eats out the 
heart of good resolves, and prevents the 
bursting forth of the full flower of heavenly 
grace ? 

It is often some obstinate clinging to pride, 
prejudice, or uncharitableness; some darling sin 
you cherish in your heart of hearts; some 
brother offended whom you refuse to humble 
yourself to win back; some injury that you will 
not forgive — as you hope to be forgiven — fully 
and freely for Christ's sake. And the heavens 
seem like brass above you; for not a shower of 
refreshing will come to weary and wounded 
ones, while they close their hearts to the tender 
call of the All-Merciful One; and in the dark- 
ened way, from which their own fault shuts out 
the light, they painfully grope, and long for day. 

Examine yourself carefully, "lest any root of 
bitterness springing up, trouble you;" and see 
if you are cherishing unkind feelings against 
any fellow creature. Abstract prejudices often 
injure the character, and give a wrong bias to 



MISTAKES. 271 

the mind. Mrs. Augustus Hare writes in her 
note-book: ; I should like to add a word to one 
of the petitions in the Litany, saying. 'Forgive 
us our sins, negligences, ignorances and preju- 
dices." " How many wrong thoughts of others, 
false estimates of things, and self-delusions, are 
the result of prejudices formed hastily or from 
some bias of feeling: from drawing conclusions 
on insufficient knowledge, or too great confi- 
dence in our own judgment! 

If from any of these causes you have made 
mistakes, hasten to do all in your power to 
rectify them and to avert their consequences. 
Do not hesitate to acknowledge them, and freely 
and cheerfully to undo, as far as possible. 
Confess yourself a learner, an humble scholar 
in the lessons of Christ's school, and receive 
with meekness and submission your appointed 
task. 

Often the best laid plans fail, the most 
matured thought and careful working seem 
utterly unsuccessful; and in silent sadness we 
grieve over the ruin of our hopes. This is a 
trial of faith and patience: but. though a bitter 
experience to the young and ardent, we may 



272 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

live to bless God for these mistakes, and see 
how His wisdom was teaching us to mount, by 
them, nearer to the Source of all strength. 

If everything moved with perfect smoothness, 
and there were no jar or friction to arrest our 
attention, we might trust too much to the 
machinery; and forget that the steady pulsation, 
the rhythmic beat, the measured advance and 
recoil are not inseparable from the grand 
proportions of even a Corliss engine. A little 
wheel will creak, a little rod slacken; and the 
oil that lubricates, and the steam that puts in 
motion the whole magnificent creation of man's 
skill, require attention. 

One fruitful source of mistakes is want of 
system, and definite preparation for duty. Your 
faculties must be trained before you can take 
the oversight; and while the many details must 
be left to subordinates, you must understand 
the degree of their capacities and the amount 
of faithfulness that can be expected from them, 
before much trust can be placed in them. 

Some people have a boundless faculty for 
forgetting; and when serious consequences 
arise from this fault they think ample atone- 



MISTAKES. 273 

ment is made by the confession, " I never 
thought of it once!" Be careful not to show 
irritation, and do everything possible to repair 
the omission; but see in the future that the 
confirmed forgetters have nothing of moment 
entrusted to them, and are placed where no one 
will suffer severely from their want of memory, 
but themselves. 

The wife of a clergyman who had recently 
taken charge of a large suburban parish, was 
superintending for the first time there, the 
preparations for the Christmas trees for the 
Sunday and parish schools. As they were large, 
it was usual to divide the work among committees, 
one of which purchased toys, another books, 
another sweets, etc; and it was agreed that all 
purchases should be brought in ten days before 
the Festival. A bright-looking young lady said: 
"I have never been on any such committees, but 
as 1 often go into town I can easily buy what 
is required." 

So it was agreed that she should purchase 
all articles of clothing that were to be distrib- 
uted among the needy children of the schools, 
as presents, — caps, hoods, jackets, scarfs, ' and 



274 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

overshoes; and she promised to show her zeal 
by buying them the next day. Christmas eve 
came and every article was labelled and hung 
on the tree, but these, the most important ones. 
When they were sent for, the message was 
returned that the young lady was still in town, 
but expected to come back in time for the 
lighting of the tree, and would then bring the 
presents with her. 

Another messenger, sent on the night of the 
Festival while the children were singing their 
carols, was informed that the young lady had 
returned "too tired to come, and would some- 
body please look after her class!"' More than 
half the school, and that the most important 
part, were left quite unprovided with gifts; the 
children of the rich had their portfolios, work 
boxes, and books; but the warm garments 
ordered for the needy, w T ere never found until 
the next August! 

This is not at all uncommon; people who 
readily promise, often forget the performance; 
mislay valuable articles entrusted to them, and 
often cannot be relied upon to do anything in 



MISTAKES. 275 

time. Conceit, and an undue estimate of one's 
own powers, cause many mistakes. 

Never take upon you other people's duties, 
and be careful that your chosen field does not 
intrench upon that of your neighbour. There 
may be times, when, in the good providence of 
God, you may be called upon to attempt more 
than nature has fitted you to encounter, because 
there is no one else who can, or will, do it. 
While humbly confessing your inability, and 
seeking strength from God to repair your defi- 
ciencies, do not grieve too despondently if 
you fail. 

At a Lenten service held in an underground 
room, where the light of a rainy day came 
dimly through the soiled window panes, an 
aged lady, at the request of the rector, attempt- 
ed to raise the tunes of the hymns, which was 
all the music used at the week-day services. 
Her feeble, quivering notes were too uncertain 
for the congregation to follow; she could not 
see the words, and most discordant singing was 
the result. A chivalrous young man present 
had his sympathies so excited by the agitation 
and distress of his old friend, that he said: 



276 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

"This shall never happen again. I cannot sing, 
but I can pay a choir master to train those who 
can conduct the praises of the Sanctuary in 
Lent." 

And that heroic effort, and mortifying- 
defeat, were the beginning of better things for 

the parish of St. B . They soon gave up 

that wretched basement, the remembrance of 
whose dimness and dampness recalls a shudder, 
and found that the church was the proper place 
for Daily Prayer, and the organ a suitable ac- 
companiment for the week-day praise. 

The very earnestness and strength of our 
impulses will sometimes lead us into mistakes. 
We often 

"Stand blind on the rocks, 
To choose the right paths from the wrong;" 

and native impetuosity and unselfishness may 
lead us into error. Time will sober this hasty 
zeal, and chasten the undisciplined impulse, if 
you are careful to recognize and correct its 
mistakes. 

To look for high moral worth and unblem- 
ished integrity, where there is no Christian 
principle upon which to build the fair structure, 



MISTAKES. 277 

is expecting beautiful flowers and fruit when 
no seed is planted. If a child plays with 
edged tools, serious injuries may be the conse- 
quence: and if you form your friendships 
among those who do not sympathise with your 
highest and purest feelings, you make a 
mistake that may darken your life. Thus 
you may 

"Choose, perhaps, a love-lit health, instead of love and 

heaven, 
A single rose, for a rose-tree, which beareth seven times 

seven; 
A rose that droppeth from the hand, that fadeth from the 

breast: 
Until in grieving for the worst, we learn what is the 

best." 

God allows us to fall into error, and suffer 
the consequences of our own mistakes, that we 
may learn to depend more entirely upon Him; 
to follow the lamps He has lighted, instead of 
the delusive shining of earthly tapers; and to 
hear, amid the sound of many voices, the call of 
;, the Spirit and the Bride." to come and drink 
of the "pure river of the water of life, pro- 
ceeding out of the throne of God and the 
Lamb." 



J 



LETTER XXX. 

THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 

"Rather is it (the Holy Book) afield, upon the surface 
of which, if sometimes we gather manna easily and 
without labor, and given, as it were, freely to our hands, 
yet of which also many portions are to be cultivated with 
pains and toil, ere they will yield food for the use of 
man." Archbishop Trench. 

O much has been said and written of the un- 
failing treasures found in God's Word, that 
it seems almost presumptuous to attempt to add 
anything to these writings of the wise. Yet the 
oft quoted comparison of Gregory the Great, in 
his Commentary on Job, is full of significance. 
The Scripture is "a river, with depths in which 
an elephant might swim, and shallows which a 
lamb might ford;" and it is a heavenly condes- 
cension that allows the mighty, moral precepts, 
the tender comfortings, the daily guidance, and 
hourly directions for our life and duty, to be 
plain enough for a child to understand; and the 



THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 279 

path of holiness so pointed out. that "the way- 
faring men, though fools, shall not err therein."' 

While the Spirit can reveal the deep things, 
the hidden riches of His Word to the simple: 
and babes can catch the echoes of mighty truths 
hidden "from the wise and prudent," yet 
patient, prayerful study, throws light upon 
much concealed wisdom, and mysterious sweet- 
ness rewards the faithful seeker after truth. 
"A man of understanding shall attain unto wise 
counsels: to understand a proverb and the in- 
terpretation, the words of the wise and their 
dark sayings." 

Spinoza brings the charge against the Bible 
that it everywhere recognizes the sovereignty of 
man over the creation: that it "speaks rather of 
a God of men, than a Creator of the universe:" 
and the undevout astronomer will tauntingly 
ask, why such a little world, amid the untold 
myriads that pursue their silent way through 
space, should have been selected as the theatre 
of the sublime spectacle of the Incarnation of 
the Son of God. But David, too, considered the 
"heavens, the work of Thy fingers: the moon 
and the stars, which thou hast ordained;*' and 



280 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

in wonder asked. "What is man that Thou art 
mindful of him ? . . . . For thou hast made him a 
little lower than the angels, and hast crowned 
him with glory and honor." 

The Mosaic record furnishes us with the 
reply, that it pleased God to make us in His 
own image; and the council of the Trinity said, 
"Let us make man.... after our likeness; and 
let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, 
and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, 
and over all the earth." Faith meekly answers 
to this, as to all other mysteries of life and 
death, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good 
in Thy sight." 

Our first motive in studying the Scriptures 
is that they may make us wise unto salvation; 
that we may find there the guidance we all need 
in the chances and changes of this mortal life; 
and Ruskin says, that "we use it most reverently 
when most habitually; our insolence is 
in ever acting without reference to it; our use of 
it is in its universal application. We have its 
sacred words not often enough on our lips, nor 
deeply enough in our memories, nor loyally 
enough in our own lives." Ask God to help 



THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 281 

you in your study, to open your eyes that you 
may see the wonders of His Word, that the 
Holy Spirit may touch your heart, and make it 
quick to respond to its heavenly teachings. 

If. from constant reading, you find the text 
of our ordinary English translation of the 
Bible makes not the vivid inrpression upon your 
eye and mind necessary to bring out its mean- 
ing, try a French or German Bible for your 
study. The French version has many little 
delicacies of thought, and the latter is particu- 
larly full of life and vigor from the terse idiom 
of the language. Luther, I believe, did not 
understand Hebrew, and translated from the 
Vulgate, so that you go back to St. Jerome and 
the fourth century, even as John de Wycliffe 
did, whose translation in the fourteenth cen- 
tury is the basis of our present English Bible. 
"The Bishops* Bible, " and that of King James, 
are mainly "former translations diligently com- 
pared and revised." 

If the aim of your life was study instead of 
service, you might find time for controversial 
writing; but as a recent divine says truly, 
"Unbelief was the parent of criticism, not the 



282 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

criticism of the unbelief;" men impugn the 
faith because they do not wish to believe it; 
and as Claudius writes, thus "frizzle at the 
evening cloud which floats over the surface of 
the full moon; but the full moon behind is left 
in its still repose." 

"If any man will do His will, he shall know 
of the doctrine, whether it be of God;" and if 
you faithfully practice all you know and study 
in the Word of God, it will be a lamp whose 
increasing light will drive away all dark 
shadows of doubt and uncertainty. One of the 
most careful scholars of the age, whose learning 
is only equalled by his humble piety, writes: 
"This has been, for some thirty years, a deep 
conviction of my soul, that no book can be 
written in defence of the Bible like the Bible 
itself. Man's defences are man's word; they 
may help to beat off attacks; they may draw 
out some portion of its meaning. The Bible is 
God's Word, and through it, God, the Holy 
Ghost, who spake it, speaks to the soul which 
closes not itself against it." 

Compare Scripture with Scripture; follow 
subjects by the aid of a reference Bible; write 



THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 283 

out each verse and parallel passage fully, that 
you may examine them all together; and if you 
have access to plenty of good books, read what 
the best authors say of the force of the original; 
but never forget that "faith is from first to last 
the gift of God. Whatever precedes, accom- 
panies, follows faith, is of Him .... Perseverance 
to the end in faith is His crowning gift.... 
Faith rests not on reasoning or proof; although 
it uses them, it sees the Unseen, the Invisible. 
It sees, because it believes; it believes, because 
it loves."' 

Write resumes of Bible history and charac- 
ters, and accustom yourself to notice those 
minute touches, and those graphic words by 
which the sacred writers convey so much to 
your mind. Do not stifle doubt but track it to 
its home, and kill it by the certainty of fuller 
knowledge. 

Kemember always, as Professor Newcombe 
says, "that the limits of our knowledge are not 
necessarily the limits of possibility, that 
patient, prayerful searching of the Scriptures 
will be rewarded, if not by the full radiance of 
the light of truth shining upon the mind, by 



284 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

the sweetness of submission to the divine will, 
which worketh in many ways above the compre- 
hension of mortal vision. But beware of 
seeking for doubt, of reading to cavil, of making 
the end of search the discovery that nothing 
certain is to be found; and, under the name of 
progress, drifting back to the condition of 
heathen skepticism before Christ came, the 
Light and the Truth." 

Speak of the Holy Word with the utmost 
reverence; never quote it lightly, or point jests, 
by expressions from its sacred pages. Be 
careful in repeating anecdotes, that they do not 
contain allusions that will destroy the force of 
certain passages from the Bible, or implant 
mirthful associations with what we should 
reverence so highly. 

Treat your Bible with outward, as well as 
inward, honour; do not pile other books upon it, 
but remember how the pious young King 
Edward VI. rebuked the courtier w T ho brought 
him a large Bible to stand upon, by which to 
reach the higher shelves of the library: "We 
should treasure the Word of God in our hearts, 
not trample it under our feet." 



THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 285 

We have noticed before bow expressive is 
the very silence of the Scriptures: as Boyle 
writes: "There is such fulness in that book, 
that oftentimes it says much bysaying nothing; 
and not only its expressions, but its silences, are 
teaching: like a dial, in which the shadow as 
well as the light informs us." Do not cultivate 
a critical spirit, and. unless you have leisure for 
deep study, prefer the practical to the contro- 
verted portions of Holy Writ: believing with the 
learned doctors and wise men. who tell us that 
though there is much above human reason, 
there is nothing contrary to it. 

While you patiently and faithfully study the 
Scriptures, remember that it is your duty to 
show forth this study in your heart and life. 
Xot by learned words and fluent speech, but by 
the gentleness of Christ, the cheerful submission 
to the will of God. the humble following of the 
meek and lowly Jesus, and the quiet cultivation 
of all those gifts and graces of the Spirit that 
are so fully described upon the Sacred Page. 

While the "Daily Prayers" used in the 
synagogue have an essential likeness to our own. 
they have more traces of Orientalism left in 



286 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

them. Let me quote one of these for the hint 
contained in it. 

Upon the opening page is the direction: 
"On entering the synagogue, bow towards the 
Ark, and say: 4 In the greatness of Thy benev- 
olence will I enter Thy house; in reverence of 
Thee I bow toward the temple of Thy Holi- 
ness .... Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God ! 
King of the Universe; Who hast not made me 
a woman.' y 

[The women say, "Blessed art Thou, O God, 
King of the Universe; Who hast made me 
according to Thy will."] 

In all the limitations in study as in action, 
that the feebleness and deficiencies of your 
nature will impose upon you, say always in 
humility and reverence, "It is the will of God." 



LETTER XXXI. 

CONTENTMENT. 

"Let me not aim beyond my measure, 

But in my place be still content, 
To do Thy will be all my pleasure 

For this let all my life be spent." 

"Oontentedness in all estates is a duty of religion; it is 
the great reasonableness of complying with the Divine 
Providence which governs the world, and hath so ordered 
us in the administration of His great family." 

Bishop Jeremy Taylor. 

TIEN we can once bring our minds and 
hearts to the assured belief, that the cir- 
cumstances of our lives are ordered for us by the 
unerring wisdom and tender love of our Heav- 
enly Father, whose All-seeing Eye grasps, not 
only the pain fulness of the present, but the 
peaceable fruit of righteousness which it will 
work out for us, we can say in all humility, 
"Thy will be done." We have the words always 
on our lips in public and private prayers; but 



288 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

do we make the entire surrender they imply, of 
all our hopes, plans, wishes and anticipations?" 

Many, worn and weary from the noise and 
the ceaseless whirl of city life, think that if they 
could have a quiet home among the green hills 
and swelling valleys of the country, they could 
serve their God more acceptably, and attain 
that rest their tired hearts crave as the highest 
earthly good. Others, living in a rural neigh- 
bourhood, find its peacefulness oppressive, its 
simple daily duty monotonous, and long for 
what they think a wider sphere, and more excit- 
ing round of activity. They cannot understand 
the weariness these entail, and forget the weight 
of care that accompanies extended fields of 
usefulness. 

But the quiet heart can make a world of its 
own, anywhere; and amid the rushing multitude 
can see its simple line of ordered service marked 
out by the Master's hand; and even in the 
fast changing scenes of the city, may realize 
the truth of the promise: "Thou wilt keep him 
in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee; 
because he trusted in Thee." 



CONTENTMENT. 289 

Stagnation of thought, and indolent shrink- 
ing from change, are not necessary anywhere: 
and the narrowness of view which is considered 
part of the disadvantageous condition of country 
life, is not found solely there. Contact with 
other minds does arouse sleeping powers; and 
when we find so many good people adopting 
widely different doctrines, who seem equally 
in earnest in believing and enforcing them, we 
are led to study the deep principles that underlie 
them all; to have a wide charity for those who 
do not agree with us. and to catch loving 
glimpses of the Master's impress, upon hearts 
that seemed closed to the force of some of His 
commandments. 

But if this is denied us, we can learn from 
books the many-sidedness of truth; and find in 
the holy Fathers, the wise Doctors, and the 
learned divines of modern days, the same 
breadth of thought and wide charity for "all 
sorts and conditions of men." that city life 
ought to give. We can have more leisure to 
ponder the truths they teach: and reflection and 
meditation can make them part of our own 
mental treasure. 



290 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

Jeremy Taylor says: "God hath appointed 
one remedy for all the evils in the world, and 
that is a contented spirit; for this alone can 
make a man pass through fire and not be 
scorched; through seas, and not be drowned; 
through hunger and nakedness, and want for 
nothing.'* A large proportion of the ills of this 
life are, or can be, swollen by the imagination 
to undue proportions; and you can keep the 
mind and heart in a perpetual fever of unrest, by 
discontentedly longing for that which the 
providence of God has placed out of your reach. 
There is always something beyond to prevent 
peace and contentment, which are not condi- 
tions of life, so much as states of mind, and 
which can be attained independently of outward 
circumstances. 

Wherever the Master has placed you, that is 
the post of duty; count over your blessings with 
grateful acknowledgment of His mercy; meekly 
accept the sorrow He may appoint to mingle 
with your daily bread; strive to overcome all 
obstacles in the path of your mental and spiritual 
advancement, and believe that God, who loveth 
best, knoweth best, and appoints the lot of each 



CONTENTMENT. 291 

of His children according to the dictates of an 
All-Seeing Wisdom and Love. 

"Shall there be a mutiny among the flocks 
and herds, because their lord or their shepherd 
chooses their pastures, and suffers them not to 
wander into deserts and unknown way?' 1 We 
know the present evil, and fancy that there can 
be nothing in those far-off scenes as trying to 
our faith and patience as this: therefore discon- 
tent will murmur, and shrink from duty. and. 
gazing upon other heights, dream of peace and 
joy found among those who dwell there. But, 
like the mirage of the desert, it perpetually 
vanishes before the aching sight, and "always 
there is a black spot in our sunshine;*' it is. 
even as Carlyle said. — "the shadow of our- 
selves '* 

Many persons will be contented with the 
place in which their lot is cast; but cannot be 
reconciled to the people with whom they come 
in contact. They are too cold and formal; too 
free and social; too critical and captious; too 
ignorant, or too learned; or. worse than all, too 
bad tempered and quarrelsome. This is certain- 
ly disagreeable, but many of these traits are not 



292 A LIFE OF SEEYICE. 

as bad as they seem. Coldness and formality 
may proceed from timidity and reserve, which 
the genial sunshine of a happy heart may thaw; 
and nice discrimination may draw the line 
w T hich should bound all intercourse with others. 

Captious criticism may be a bad habit, which 
those who would be wise, fancy makes them so; 
ignorance may be enlightened, and peevish- 
ness may forget to quarrel because of the 
unwillingness of the other party. Guard your 
own heart very carefully, and when you find how 
difficult it is for you always to speak the gentle 
word, and give the soft answer which "turneth 
away wrath," you will learn charity and com- 
passion for those who fail. 

After people have reached middle life, and 
have retained the fretfulness, petulance and 
fault-finding disposition which discipline should 
have rooted out in childhood, you can rarely 
expect much change. The grace of God in 
such hearts is a feeble plant in an unkindly 
soil; and prayer and the sacraments throw only 
passing gleams of light into the dark recesses of 
such a nature. 



CONTENTMENT. 293 

If it is part of your life-long trial to be 

brought in close contact with such an evil 
blight, pray against it with all the fervor of 
which you are capable, because it is sadly conta- 
gious; and one of such spirit can not only mar 

the peace of a household, but infect other 
inmates with a like unholy discontent. Learn 
to be very quiet: never speak when the foul 
creature rears its head: do not think much of it 
if possible, or mention it. save in prayer. 

In Church Homes and Refuses, in infirma- 
ries and alms' houses, you will find many of 
these perverse and sinful dispositions. Their 
own friends were unable longer to endure the 
infliction of such an inmate in the family, so 
that any pretext was seized upon for putting the 
burden upon the public. In your care of the 
sick, and duties in charitable institutions, you 
will have need of all your Christian graces, that 
you may put up with the constant complaints, 
the querulous murmurs, the peevish exactions 
and dissatisfaction of these unhappy people. 

Remember that this is the very reason you 
find them there. Pleasant, useful people are 
welcome inanvhome: but the wretched grumb- 



294 A LIFE OF SEEVICE. 

lers, the suspicious, jealous, captious disposi- 
tions cause too much unhappiness to be desired 
inmates anywhere. Be very patient, though firm, 
in your treatment of them ; and let them be a 
warning to you to guard against the first rising 
of discontent. Pray to God, like St. Augustine, 
"Give me what Thou commandest, and com- 
mand what Thou wait;" and accept evil as the 
good w T hich cometh from Him, with a happy 
heart and cheerful smile. 

This world is a w r ide one, and there is plenty 
of room in it for men and women of varying 
tastes and tempers, without clashing. Only learn 
to accept this truth, and have charity for other 
people's crotchets, and you can smooth out 
many causes of unhappiness. 

Perhaps the circumstances of your life may 
lead you into such quiet paths, that you may 
think you have no need of this strength and 
patience. You look from afar upon the din of the 
conflict which courageous souls are w 7 aging for 
the good and true, forgetting that each human 
heart is a battlefield for contending forces; and 
there is no place so remote but that therein 
may be trained soldiers for the holy war. 



CONTENTMENT. 295 

The waste of towns inust be supplied by the 
country, and in unfrequented byways God is 
teaching His chosen ones fit lessons for future 
use. "There is no fountain so small but heaven 
may be imagined in its bosom f' and there is no 
life so obscure, but it may grow in graces 
that will bless the world. 

Let contentment be so thoroughly the habit 
of your mind, that you carry it with you every- 
where; and in strange places plan your life as if 
you were always to live there. Do not waste 
your time in idle dreaming or aimless sightsee- 
ing, bat pursue your fixed ends, observe your 
rules of obedience and service, and live each 
day knowing that it may be your last on earth. 
Rev. Sydney Smith gives an excellent recipe for 
contentment: "Take short views, hope for the 
best, and trust in God." 

Contrast your condition with that of those 
beneath you; all your desires may not be 
granted, but there are many miseries you have 
escaped; others may seem more blest, but you 
cannot know the hidden blight that may darken 



296 A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 

the sunshine of their lives. Believe most fully 
with the poet, that 

"111 that He blesses is our good, 

And unblest good is ill; 
And all is right that seems most wrong, 

If it be His sweet will," 

and you will realize the joys of a contented 
mind. 



LETTEK XXXII. 

GEATITUDE. 

"The two belong together, service and thanks; not 
in the way of bargain, not by deliberate arrangement, 

but in the very nature of things to the life that serves, 

the gratitude that recognizes service belongs, as the 
warmth belongs to the sunlight, or the echo to the sound,'* 
Bishop Phillips Brooks. 

fN the first vigor of youth the freshness of the 
dawn is about us; i4 the common air is balm," 
and we enter each path of service with a joyful 
expectation of accomplishing great things. We 
may, perhaps, be able to give all of our time, 
strength and means to benefit others, and new 
ways of serving them will be constantly opening 
before us. "To him that hath shall be given;" in 
this case it may be in frequent opportunity of 
increased and extended usefulness; and, if time 
were not so fleeting, and strength so inadequate 
to the task, we fancy we might do much for the 
blessing of our race. 



298 A LIFE OF SEEYICE. 

But soon comes the blank, bitter chill of 
ingratitude. The people we have tried to benefit, 
deceive and wound us. They return evil for 
the good we have done them; they repulse or 
reject our well meant efforts to serve them, and 
persist in the wrong doing from which we 
would fain keep them. This is the trial hour 
of motives. If God's glory has been our ruling 
thought, and true love for the souls He has 
made, and whose ransom cost the precious blood 
of the Lamb, the actuating principle of our 
service, while no self-seeking has marred the 
offering, we learn 

"Still to abide, 'mid failing hearts high-hearted," 

and are content to work on faithfully and 
patiently without thinking of the reward. 

There is much then, too, in the habit of 
seeking everywhere for occasions to benefit 
others. You can deny yourself, and forget 
your own personal likes and dislikes until they 
cease to assert themselves. And thus, though 
the glow of youthful enthusiasm will die away, 
and the brilliant tints of the morning 

"Fade into the light of coming day," 

you can, with ripened judgment and maturer 



GRATITUDE. 299 

thought plan for the good of others, even 
though many of those plans, the instinct of ex- 
perience tells you will come to naught. 

"Your young men shall see visions, and your 
old men shall dream dreams;'* and a certain 
Rabbin, writing to Lord Bacon upon the text, 
"inferreth that young men are admitted nearer 
to God than old, because a vision is a clearer 
revelation than a dream." Be careful, then, that 
you do not throw the shadow of a chill evening 
over "the vision splendid," which glows about 
young hearts, working in the strength of excited 
hope; and the damp of oft-repeated disappoint- 
ment on "the gladness of the May." 

It will come very surely as the slow-paced 
years pass on, and the inevitable depression of 
standing, perhaps alone, among ruined schemes 
and defeated plans, steals over them. But do 
not rob them of one ray of the celestial light, or 
hasten its fading by the cold record of the 
accumulated experience of other lives. 

Gratitude, perhaps, seldom comes from those 
whom w r e most benefit; but, often in unexpected 
places, the chance flower springs up, whose 
sweet perfume will refresh the weary heart and 



300 A LIFE OF SERVICE. 

waken "thoughts too deep for tears." A full 
table has been spread constantly for daily 
recipients; they may scorn the banquet, but its 
crumbs will nourish life, or bring strength to 
humble souls like that of the Syro-Phenician 
woman, who, with rare humility and beauty, 
answered our blessed Lord, "Yet the dogs eat 
of the crumbs which fall from their master's 
table." And His gracious approval rings 
through the ages: "O, woman, great is thy 
faith." 

The last notes of Evening Prayer had died 

away in the beautiful church of St. M -, and 

only a few lights gleamed amid the high arches 
wreathed with "the box and pine" for the Feast 
of the Nativity. The beauty of the scene 
attracted some passing students from a 
neighbouring college; and entering, they knelt, 
perhaps more from the instinct of habit, than 
reverence for the Sanctuary. In the shadow 
of the transept a few of the choir boys had 
gathered about their Sunday School teacher; 
and the soft voice of womanly tenderness was 
pleading with them, because that day they had 



GRATITUDE. 301 

turned away from the Holy Supper of the Lord, 
and slighted the Sacred Feast. 

"And will ye also go away?" came persua- 
sively from her lips, reaching the ear of a manly 
student who was also 

* 'Forgetting God and duty." 

Perhaps the choristers were unmoved by the 
appeal, and the heart of a faithful teacher was 
wounded by their continued neglect; and she 
never knew of him who knelt within the sound 
of her voice, and was drawn by it out of the 
lurid mists of doubt to his early love and faith , 
consecrating them from that day to the fuller 
service of God. 

And so it is ever in the mysterious plan of 
life. We receive benefits from those whom we 
cannot serve; but w T e can accept them humbly 
and gratefully, and immediately return the 
kindness by doing something for other people, 
without expecting the reward of thanks. 

A tired traveller was waiting, during a long 
and unexpected interval between an arriving 
and departing train, in an over-heated and 
crowded station house, when a casual acquaint- 
ance of other years came up, and said, " You 



302 



A LIFE OF SEKVICE. 



look very weary; you must allow me to drive you 
through the park to our house for luncheon, as 
you cannot leave till night." 

When returning, rested and refreshed, some 
hours later, the traveller said: "What can I 
ever do for you, in return for this great kind- 
ness?*' The answer came, "Perhaps nothing; 
but you can pass it on to the next;" and the 
grateful remembrance has caused many lunch- 
eons to be prepared, and spread many couches 
for weary people. 

This is the meaning of our blessed Lord's 
words, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
of the least of these My brethren, ye have done 
it unto Me." Give to the poor with wise 
discrimination; think for them, plan for them, 
care for them always and everywhere, remem- 
bering that you do it — 



"for His holy sake 

Who died for thee," 



and that 



"When He was slaiu for crime of doing good, 
Canst thou expect return of gratitude?" 

When you cease to be expectant, often the 
reward does come, even in this life. To those 
who have sowed beside all waters, and patiently 



GRATITUDE, 303 

and humbly toiled while waiting for the harvest 
the warmth "that belongs to the sunlight" 
refreshingly falls, and "at even-tide there shall 
be light." 



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